Rising Fox Soaring Hawk
by Blazing Demon
Summary: The events that came after the Valley of the end saw Naruto banished and Sasuke going over to Orochimaru. What will be their destiny? Staring Team Hawk,Kimimaro,Sai,Hinata. The upgraded chapters that will replace the ones in rising fox once finished.
1. Chapter 1

Hello aspiring authors/writers and fellow readers, some of you may have heard of me some of you may not of and others will probably say oh your that guy. So I'm back once again sporting new abilities and some old ones too. Now let us begin…

**Disclaimer: Still have to do this….. I don't own Naruto**

**Chapter 1: Aftermath of Friendship**

Two warriors, shinobi, friends were ending their deathly battle with one another holding two of the most deadly of techniques in the world of ninjutsu; the lightening cuter chidori and the infamous jutsu of the fourth rasengan. Such irony that their bonds, their friendship had caused this tragedy. Both took to the sky one flapping his wings of darkness and the other using the demonic light. The Valley of the End how fitting that such things had chosen to finish here. Just as they made contact you could each of them shouting their jutsu.

"CHHHIIIDDDDDOORRRIII"

"RAASSEEENNNGGGAAANNN"

From the clash of these two great moves a massive energy surges throughout the entire area engulfing both of the friends turned arch-rivals. In an instant one fell to the ground while the other landed next to him, as the dust and light cleared. The one left standing was the young avenger known as Uchiha Sasuke. He looked into the sky with shock as it began to rain, he almost gave in to the one he so despised something inside him had stopped him killing his closest friend. The victor looked down at the fallen one his chest bloody and completely unknown whether he was alive. The raven haired Uchiha narrowed his eyes slightly then said to one he just defeated "So this is it. Sorry Naruto, this is the path I must tread…"

He hesitated before slowly moving over to the fallen blond haired 'friend' going down on one knee he reached for the boys neck but rather than making sure he was dead, he checked for a pulse. Sasuke calmed down a little as the rain continued to pour as if the heavens itself mourned these tragic events that had come to pass.

"Still alive, good. But that power back there what was it?"

There was a brief pause as Sasuke moved his arm away and was about to stand but he grabbed the side of his neck that had the mark of a curse. So much pain started surging throughout his body, mentally there was a voice screaming at him to finish the boy, kill Naruto. He clenched his fist and punched the ground somehow forcing the pain and the voice away. Just as he stood up, even if his friend could not hear him he was going to say it anyway. "I can't do it. Killing you will not change a thing and…your babbling heh, live on for me."

As the raven haired youth began to turn away the headband that he had worn fell off hitting the ground a scratch lay upon it through the symbol of the Konoha village. There was very little surprise on his face in fact in his own way there was acknowledgment of that feat. Uchiha Sasuke placed the headband next to his friend then began to leave towards his destiny; the path of an avenger…

Around ten minutes later a Jounin of Konoha with a small ninja hound in front of him were darting towards the valley. The Jounin's left eye was covered by his headband but it was obvious in the right that dread was writ all over it. Running through his head was the hope that he'd make it in time, from the final surge of chakra that sent shockwaves it seemed obvious that the great battle was over

He made it into the clearing plainly seeing distinct orange which frighteningly was more crimson than anything. As they approached worry and fear got stronger as he dared not think the worst on the young boys fate. He stopped looking over his comrade, his student something a teacher should never see. Even a person, a Jounin of his fame as the copy ninja Hatake Kakashi there was no way he could've foreseen this and it deeply saddened him. The team that he had been charged with had broken in one of the worst possible of ways. The small ninja hound walked up to the scratched headband, figuring out who's it was he stated to his master.

"It's Sasuke's…. I can't track him in this weather the rains washed away the scent"

Kakashi checked the fallen shinobi for a pulse making sure there was life still in him, there was relief as although faint still counted as alive. He motioned his ninja hound known as Pakkun to return to his land, which he nodded as he disappeared. There was still uncertainness as to what condition the blond haired youth was in the injuries may be grievous but they were no way near mortal. Yet how would the man know that he is no medic.

In the far distance the young avenger trekked through the woods that led to his future. There was numerous thinks flowing in his mind but there was one main thought that dominated. Sasuke was mentally asking himself

'The true path of an avenger… killing friends would turn me into my brother. I will never be like him! I will forge my own path and surpass you."

"I WILL BE A BETTER MAN THAN YOU!" shouted Sasuke as if to make sure his brother could hear him. He continued on towards the Land of Rice, where his new master resided in waiting. The one person who could make him stronger, the one he wished to surpass as well before he challenged his brother and avenged his clan. There was enough awareness from the young Uchiha that his despicable big brother Itachi was stronger than the great Snake Sanin. He felt this was the only way it was only a matter of time until everything fell into place.

Unknown Location

In a darkened cave nine figures began to form all projected like spectres their eyes coming through proving they were all human, one of them was standing on the ceiling of the cave. All are known as S-class criminals whom are now in a fearful organisation; the Akatsuki. The one known as Zetsu which had an aloe look spoke up first in a passive tone.

"Seven years it has been since we have gathered like this"

The one standing next to him which had the appearance of a hunched person added

"Indeed Itachi not since Orochimaru left our organisation have we done this"

"And now Orochimaru has Sharingan" interrupted Zetsu.

The one with the large sword on his back; Hoshigaki Kisame smiled with humour then turned his head towards his partener Uchiha Itachi. He stated the obvious. "So it's your brother Itachi"

Itachi remained silent and his eyes narrowed, very brief silence followed until the one standing on the ceiling of the cave continued the conversation.

"Don't worry un…I'll finish Orochimaru soon enough…un…We have only three years left. Will you be able to clear all your assignments? Un?"

Their leader replied and directed it towards everyone his ringed eyes making sure he would be taken seriously. "Yes…we shall secure them all….., all including the Nine-tailed fox spirit"

Some time later, a distance away Valley of the End

Hatake Kakashi had been moving at speed towards Konohagakure for some time now, holding Naruto in his arms of whom still remained unconscious. There might not have been any bleeding but the young blonds breathing was erratic which was enough to tell the copy ninja his injuries were serious. As he continued his approach he was met by a couple of medic ninja whom kept up with him.

"What is Naruto's status sir?" asked one of the Medic Ninja.

"His holding out well enough, lets just get him back."

Its likely he'll need lady fifth's expertise to make sure he's ok." Kakashi replied as calmly as possible considering the current situation.

Both of the medic ninja nodded as one of them jumped off to find the others while the other remained to make sure the boy could hold out so they could get to the hospital. Kakashi continued to rush forwards, to his surprise he could tell Naruto was stirring as his eyes slowly opened.

"Did I do it…is he here?" blandly asked Naruto.

"No he got away, don't worry we'll get him back. For now we need to get you healed" responded Kakashi as he shook his with a flicker of sorrow in his eye.

"..damn it…Sasuke…" was the last thing the aggravated young blond said before passing out, whether it was from pain or exhaustion it was unknown to Kakashi. He attempted to increase his speed going as fast as possible. The copy ninja may of lost one student but he couldn't allow another loss. He had to reach Konoha…

Orochimaru's Hideout, a few hours later

A chamber, a dungeon filled with prisoners or maybe even unfortunate test subjects. Walking down the middle of the cells were three figures one was covered in bandages the only exposed part was his serpent like golden eye. The other was a silver haired youth with glasses on known as Yakushi Kabuto and the final one was none other than Uchiha Sasuke of whom was showing signs of the battle he'd fought recently. As they continued walking down the cell the bandaged human serpent stated. "Heh heh…. Sasuke. You are the chosen one."

"I don't care, just give me the power" calmly replied Sasuke. In reply to such lack of respect and gratitude the serpent like man lightly growled. He made his intent to kill something or someone known as a way of commanding respect. This was ignored by the young Uchiha but not by Kabuto which shivered slightly from the reaction. He shuffled towards Sasuke and whispered to him. "He may not look it but the man before you is Lord Orochimaru, best watch your mouth if you want to live"

Sasuke replied to this in his own way by allowing the corrupt chakra of his to escape into the air, showing that he would kill the silver haired youth. Kabuto backed off almost immediately unsure what to make of that. Orochimaru grinned, widening his eye in anticipating excitement for the future, he knew very well that the future did lay with Sasuke and his Sharingan.

**And thus we begin. Next chapter promises are broken and the aftermath hits. Around ten chapters will be released in the space two weeks since this is the improved version and I somewhat said I would do it. So those that have read leave a review. I do reply to most of them, what a weird habit that is…**


	2. Chapter 2

So here's the second chapter, in past people have thought I've had a beta reader so I confess I don't have one. If there are some irregularities they tend not to be terrible or the end of the world, in other words you should be able to piece whatever it is together with ease. Anyway. The retrieval mission has ended in failure as all those involved rest and eventually reawaken. How does everyone else react to this and what will happen next…

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto then I wouldn't have to say I don't own it.**

**Chapter 2 Awakening and a Broken Promise**

Three day had passed since the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke, all those that had been a part of it were immediately rushed into Konoha hospital. Hyuga Neji and Akimichi Choji were unconscious from their encounter with the sound four but at least they were stable and recovering relatively quick. Rock Lee remained under the watchful gaze of his sensei Maito Gai. As for Inuzuka Kiba, he was still bedridden along with Akamaru but showed good signs of recovering due to the amount of noise they were making. As for Nara Shikamaru he was dismissed from the hospital within a day. Uzumaki Naruto however, was still unconscious, it had indeed taken the 5th Hokage's medical skill to fully heal the injuries sustained especially to his chest which had taken the brunt of the twisted Chidori thrown by Sasuke. The injury while it appeared to be very severe it seemed to technique be life-threatening, be it either the job of the Kyubi or perhaps Sasuke's unwillingness to kill. Although the Hokage doubted it was the latter of the two.

Kakashi could be seen heading towards the hospital along with a taller looking man with very long spiky white hair and a scroll slung on his back.

Today Kakashi was heading towards the hospital accompanied by a taller and older man with a scroll on his back and long spiky hair. He was one of the legendary Sannin; Jiraiya the Toad Sage. They were clearly heading for the ward which, Naruto resided in. As they walked down the corridor they noticed a very familiar female face getting closer to them.

"How is he?" a still worn-out Kakashi said.

"The shock of the injury means his recovering slowly." replied Tsunade with an obvious hint of sorrow. Jiraiya slowly began to open the door when he stopped and turned his head towards Tsunade. He plainly said "I've heard that the council is going to meet up and discus the recent events once Naruto wakes up, Tsunade do you know what is going to happen?"

"Nothing gets past you, I have no idea what they are up to. Although it must be about Sasuke" replied Tsunade in a hushed tone.

"He's definitely going to be a missing ninja now." sighed Kakashi.

"Probably. It's a shame… this'll upset him." sighed Jiraiya as he slowly opened the door. As they walked in there was a very awkward silence, Kakashi for one could barely look at the boy. In a way he was blaming himself, the only reason he taught Sasuke the Chidori was to prove that there was another way of reaching that goal of killing Itachi. Obviously it had failed in the end it was used to sever all ties, it made things worse. The aura of guilt that was coming from him had been picked up by Jiraiya he said in an attempted comforting manner "Don't blame yourself for this"

"It feels like…I'd hit him with that jutsu…" drearily remarked Kakashi.

"Uchiha Sasuke made his own choice. Not even I can read the hearts and minds of others." replied the Toad Sannin.

"I suppose. I guess the bright side is no one got killed." said Kakashi trying to cheer himself up even if a little. Tsunade decide to make one last check on the boy and put her hand on his forehead then took his pulse. A brief smile graced her face as she said "Everything's nominal. Don't worry he'll be awake by tomorrow."

"Kakashi, what about his remaining team-mate. Does she know the situation?" asked Jiraiya.

"Not yet, I feel it is best until he wakes up." responded Kakashi with a slow shaking of his head. This also unintentionally brought back memories.

"I don't like the way this feel. It's too familiar" said the Hokage.

"Such irony, history repeated itself." reminisced the toad sage.

Kakashi knew exactly what they were going on about, he felt it best to keep out of that conversation. Eventually the others would leave but he remained to reminisce and reflect on the past before this tragedy took place.

The Next Day

It was morning birds could be heard and sun was rising. At the Konoha hospital two eyes began to open, the boy sat up looking around. His head shot towards the door as it opened revealing the aid of Tsuande; Shizune.

"I'm glad to see your ok it was a bit touch and go for a while Neji." she said.

The young Hyuga briefly glanced around, then he remembered the battle that had nearly killed him. He got heavily struck in the shoulder by that spider like member of the sound four. A momentary smile appeared on his face, he'd won although not in the same 'style' as Naruto it was a victory none the less. But then he scowled he wasn't sure if the had succeeded so he had ask "Did we succeed? Is Sasuke here"

Shizune lowered her head and shook it. There wasn't much point hiding it now so she went onto debrief him, explaining that Sasuke obviously got away but she decided to leave the bit out about how bad the injury to Naruto was.

"That's a shame, I guess it can't be helped." sighed the boy. As he tried to get out of his bed he found he could not, his legs were numb not to mention the rest of his body.

"You've been out for nearly four days now, your body will feel stiff for a while" explained Shizune. She then left the room, leaving Neji to his own thoughts, he was slightly relived that no one was KIA during the mission but something was bothering him and he just couldn't tell what or why he had this somewhat ominous feeling.

One floor above the ward Neji was in

Around two hours later, Naruto began to stir, as moved around a little he ended rolling completely off the bed hitting the floor. Which, obviously woke him up immediately his eyes focused a bit more and muttered something like how'd he get here. He managed to get to his feet and sit on the bed when he felt a sudden sharp shooting pain in his chest. Then his memory of that conflict with Sasuke came, he took a Chidori to the chest which, saddened him deeply that he couldn't save his friend. Although Naruto was very confused about why he was alive, sure he was relived but still Sasuke had said he would sever the bonds between them and yet he was still here. His mind was a bit chaotic right now but without warning some kind of booming voice began to speak **'Pathetic soft feeble humans.'**

"What the who is that?" he nearly yelped loudly from the surprise.

"**I'm inside you idiot, you mortals are slow"** the voice responded in a loose aggressive way.

'The Kyubi? Aren't I supposed to be able to see ya?' this time Naruto directed his voice inside so he wasn't shouting at thin air.

'**You can thank that blasted Uchiha.' **the Kyubi pointed out

'Can you read my mind?' a slightly confused Naruto asked.

'**Yes and no. The seals weakened only slightly so I can speak and you can hear'**

'So I can talk to you whenever I want?'

'**In a way, the seal is unpredictable. However, that kid that spared you did it for some reason. Perhaps he saw me and hesitated.' **

Silence followed, the 'mortal' one had taken in what had been said. Something felt different about the aura coming from the fox within. He felt that it was being truthful but then again there's no proof that it was lying either.

'**So the seal is tightening up again. I'm being……' **that was the last thing the Kyubi said until he was utterly silenced. Perhaps Naruto should've taken up that mind training that his sensei told his to try. This however wouldn't of worked after all he's no seal expert. He simply sighed and looked out of the window.

An hour past since the Kyubi decided to frighten the living daylights outa him. The window suddenly opened and in came Jiraiya making the poor boy nearly jump into the ceiling receiving a rather amused look from the reaction to his entrance.

"Can't you use a door like normal people?"

"Window was closer. Ahh yah missed me really."

Approaching the hospital was someone with very distinct read hair and severe insomnia. He had heard a sudden ruckus and began to walk up the wall until he stopped for a second. A voice that was distinctly Naruto's was going on about old perverts or something. He continued until he walked through the window with a confused look. His sudden appearance made Naruto jump a little but not too much, Jiraiya pulled a sheepish grin as he turned around towards the new guest.

"Oh Garra! What are you doing here?" Naruto said with still a hint of surprise.

"We came to help, unfortunately we were too late. It's good…to see you finally awake" steadily replied Gaara.

"Finally?" a slightly curious Naruto asked.

"You've been out for a good…lets see three days now." instantly spoke up the Sannin.

"Why am I sitting here then I better move!" the blond nearly shouted as he leapt off of his bed only to again jump as Shikamaru opened the door nearly running into him, the new arrival smiled before saying "Glad to see your back to normal"

"Well time for me to go, we'll speak later." interrupted Jiraiya.

"Oh come on I want to know now!" whined Naruto.

"You'll just have to be patient." simply replied Jiraiya.

"Who is this guy?" asked Gaara.

"Here we go…" whispered Naruto while rolling his eyes.

"Good question. I am the wild man of Konoha, the Great Toad Sage and one of the legendary three, Jiraiya that's my name!" the old man finished with the flexing of muscles and pointing to the sky.

"You know some….very strange people." was all Gaara could say, unsure what to make of that.

"Tell me about it" the young blond sighed.

"Kid's today are no fun." sulked Jiraiya before vanishing in a cloud of smoke. Then the conversation resumed with Gaara stating "I am here to simply say that we must go"

"Already, can't you stay a bit longer?" moaned Naruto.

"Sorry but Suna for some reason needs our urgent return" coolly said Gaara.

"Fine then I'll just have to visit you instead" excitingly said Naruto. Gaara let a smile escape from his face and the vanished leaving a small trail of sand from where he had been standing. Shikamaru then turned to Naruto and spoke up. "No rest for you eh?"

The young Chunin then went into some of the details and let Naruto know that everyone came back alive. Meanwhile outside a certain pink haired kunoichi was approaching the hospital she made her way up to the room Naruto was staying in but she hesitated and listened in, Shikamaru was asking "So would he at all…."

"No he wouldn't…… Sasuke is gone" replied Naruto, he tried his hardest yet it wasn't enough. Outside of the room the young girl backed off from the door with sorrow writ on her face. Sakura had no chance to fully compose herself as she saw Tsunade approaching she placed her hand on the young girls shoulder. As the door was opened the two boy's heads swung around to see who they were.

"Sakura!" Naruto surprisingly said.

"Naruto…" said Sakura with a very light half smile. She was relived that he was ok yet in her heart was sad by what had happened.

"I'm sorry…." said Naruto lowered his head

"There's no need to apologise, I know you tried your hardest…." reassured the young kunoichi.

"But I will bring Sasuke back, it like I said that's my promise of a lifetime!" determinedly replied the blond.

"It's okay….forget it" was all Sakura could say to him about that promise.

"Sakura! he's…" sharply interrupted Shikamaru, he was bout to continue when he got interrupted by the young blond. "It's like I always say….I never go back on my word cause that's my shinobi way!"

"I'm sorry ….you'll have to wait a while but next time I'm coming with you!" cheerily responded Sakura, the mood lightened into a lot of smiles. Eventually everyone left to allow Naruto to rest, about an hour after this Jiraiya had returned with a slightly more serious feel to him.

"I have some interesting info I know you want to hear." said Jiraiya as he began to go into details. Basically it was about Akatsuki not being operational for at least two to three years since they were preparing for something. The other was about Orochimaru's immortality jutsu that it too needed three years to work again which, meant Sasuke was safe for said amount of time. He rounded up his explanation "I'm also going to be away for a while but I'll be back."

"Don't tell me… research." sighed the blond, rolling his eyes.

"Important research mind you." the Sannin replied with a crossing of arms

"Oh that kind! Can I come?" asked Naruto as he sat up straighter with anticipation.

"Sorry kid. No offence but your still a bit beat up." said Jiraiya as he vanished in a small cloud of smoke before the boy.

Reports of Naruto wakening up had reached the council of Konoha not to mention a rather unique and sinister individual too whom had plans of his own. All he had to do was set everything into motion and he knew if he manipulated the right people his dreams would come to fruition very soon. After all what is one or two lives in the greater scheme of things in this mans grand vision…

**Oh yeah chapter one and two have had very little changed from the first version just to let you know. A little bit of a cliff hanger you'll find out what happens tomorrow. Ok then so next chapter dreams are broken and sinister wheels are set in motion…**


	3. Chapter 3

And here's the next chapter. Lets see authors comment, those that have read the manga I hope she isn't dead. So… the meeting has come to an end and the result is bleak. But the question is what happens next?

**Disclaimer: I do not own the moon or Naruto.**

**Chapter 3 Broken Dreams**

It had now been a week since everyone had returned from the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke. Almost everyone had recovered enough to be allowed to be discharged from the hospitals care. It was today that the council of Konoha was meeting along with the Hokage. Tsunade was sitting at her desk sighing, she had actually won the lottery it could only mean something bad was going to happen. Most likely though Sasuke would become a rouge ninja and demand his death. She was roused from her thoughts when Shizune entered and nodded. It was time for this ominous meeting. Another thought entered her head; this could cause a war. Her assistant locked on to the worried mood that surrounded Tsunade but dared not say anything as they continued to the meeting.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru's Hideout

Underground somewhere in Otogakure was a room which, granted very little visibility. A man, at least it had the shape of one but looked more serpent than anything was watching Uchiha Sasuke train in the way of the sword; Kenjutsu. After slashing in the air he asked. "How will this grant me power?"

"The Kusenage requires skill, the blade cannot be broken or stopped." was the simple response he got from the snake.

"Even if this sword is that good, it won't be enough." the Uchiha's voice was rather icy to say the least in his response. To which, Kabuto sighed then prodded his glasses. "You still need to work on respect. You should be honoured there are only two Kusenage swords in existence and you have been permitted to have one."

"Kabuto, you are here for more than simple explanation."

"Yes I have new information…"

"They all indeed died, we were able to retrieve one of the bodies but unfortunately not Kimimaro he was attached to his final jutsu so we could not budge him."

"It matters not he served his purpose long ago."

"We retrieved Tayuya's body, what do you wish to be done."

"Failures must be disposed of entirely."

"As you wish my lord." Kabuto accepted his orders with a bow then turned his head to the boy then back to his master to if the other order was to be given. Sasuke had listened in too and got some valuable information but he wasn't sure who this Kimimaro was but he must've been strong. Perhaps he should aim for that level of strength first and then. He was interrupted when the snake lord gave his next order to his servant. "And proceed with your other assignment."

"Well, well Sasuke your in my charge now."

"I refuse, only one can train me." there was such annoyance in the young boys voice, he had come this far to be trained by some nobody. There was a sigh from the older teen that kid had a lot to learn but he shrugged and voiced what he felt was a fact. "Respect, manners and even a bit of humility might keep you alive"

"Humour him." their 'lord' commanded with a following chuckle.

"Heh, broken but not dead." Kabuto's voice had a mixture of sadistic and joy that would unnerve a lesser man.

"You don't stand a chance." stated the Uchiha as he lunged forwards to take out, maybe even try to kill his foe.

Back in Konoha

The meeting of the council had not gone well, one of the council members had motioned for something drastic and had majority backing. Although to the Hokage it was strange that one of the council members by the name of Danzo had done nothing. Speaking of which, Tsunade had just burst through the door into her office quickly followed by her assistant.

"Damn them all!" the Kage's voice was full fury and sorrow. She held herself back from smashing a hole in the wall with her fist.

"Please calm down." uttered Shizune, she was barely able to say that because of the sheer rage coming from Tsunade, it was enough to make even the sternest of shinobi pale.

"How can I be, this ruling will crush him!" bellowed the Kage, her assistant dared not say anything until the anger had calmed down even if a little. Tsunade continued in a slightly quieter tone "I can't believe how helpless we are. This'll break him."

"We should wait but he needs to know." Shizune told her master in very heartbroken way. The response of the Kage was full of bitterness and regret "I will bear the burden, its only right I tell him."

Back at Orochimaru's Hideout

Sasuke had been brought to his knees and all it had been was a tap to his right leg. He was out of breath, how was this possible to lose like this? Kabuto only had a few scratches and a satisfied smile. This made Sasuke growl in anger at how lightly he was being taken.

"It's only a torn muscle no need to growl in pain." mocked Kabuto

"Not bad considering he was holding back." added Orochimaru which, in turn received a scowl from the Uchiha.

"We agree that you'll train under me?" the spectacled boy asked.

"Fine, train me." responded Sasuke in a somewhat subdued way.

"Finally some form of respect" Kabuto said while he crossed his arms.

"You are both dismissed" commanded Orochimaru.

"What of the Fuma clan Lord?" asked Kabuto before he left.

"It is being dealt with." was the simple reply. Kabuto tried to help Sasuke up but got his hand pushed away as the child stubbornly got up to his feet. To the Uchiha this was embarrassing to lose like that. It didn't help his training and knew could be some time before Orochimaru would train him. He saw the positive side though, it was another step towards his brother.

Konoha Hospital

Tsunade had finished explaining what had happened in the council meeting. It was clear that any life, joy or hope had left the poor boy; Naruto.

"In the end all I could buy you was one day…before you…" she paused unable to finish.

"Do this is it, he's the traitor and I end up suffering, maybe I deserve it…" there was no emotion in the boys response.

"This was never your fault, don't say that." Tsunade cut in, she couldn't bear seeing him like this.

"It's only cause I have the fox, I'm not that stupid."

A brief moment of silence followed, Naruto was trying to contemplate what to do next. "I….don't know what to do anymore. I could go after Sasuke but can it be done." his voice was broken and a hint of confusion as what to do.

"It could be impossible the same thing happened with a former friend of mine."

"Yet everything else I wanted…I dreamed of is gone. I'll think of something."

"Here the council doesn't know but this belonged to your father" said Tsunade as she handed a small backpack with three scrolls in it.

"What's this?"

"Open it after you're outside, its inheritance from your father."

"So is this goodbye?"

"…yeah I'm going to miss you kid, keep that necklace ok."

"I will, thank you and…goodbye."

"Goodbye Naruto." her voice was starting to break she kissed him on the forehead before leaving. A tear rolled down her cheek, she did not look back and she knew she'd never get over this.

As for the young boy he dressed and went to his apartment. After packing the essentials for survival outside he debated with himself; whether to tell the others that he may never see him again. A voice called out to him saying it would hurt them more, he couldn't do that to any of them. Naruto made it up to a certain gate and passed through unopposed.

"How ironic, Sasuke left from this gate. I need a reason to live so I'm goanna find you." he muttered to himself as he left Konoha probably for the last time. There was only one goal, more a excuse to not give up to continue going on. He was going to find and try to save his friend then maybe he'll find his reason to exist.

Unknown Location

A secret chamber underground, shrouded almost completely in darkness a man stood in the middle with bandages perched on is cane. A young teen clad in black steeped towards him then kneeled. Brief silence followed until the more aged man began to give orders to his subordinate. "This mission is of utmost importance, failure is not an option. Complete this and you shall be promoted. Can I trust you with this?"

"Yes, Danzo-sama. It will be done and I won't fail" replied the young boy with a smirk on his face.

"Boy do not smirk or you will die" berated Danzo.

"I apologise it would seem I have not mastered showing emotions correctly." responded the boy lowering his head.

"You will go under the name of Sai. Now proceed with your mission." said Danzo with a nod as strangely the room got darker.

**Another half cliff hanger chapter. Contemplate means thinking of next action. Next time Naruto finds himself meeting certain people. Do you want to know who? I'm not telling. But the flames of rebirth comes and lights the way to the future…**


	4. Chapter 4

This is probably the chapter I've made the biggest changes to but this is so I don't have to look back and say why didn't I go through with that. So onward…

Chapter 4 now with 60% more Sai

**Disclaimer: I'm sexy but not enough to own Naruto ^___^**

**Chapter 4 Revival**

As Naruto walked through the area where he pursued Sasuke he couldn't help but remember how determined everyone was. But now he didn't feel like that, in fact there was barely any emotion upon his face only hints of sorrow if you looked closely. He continued onwards until an hour later he reached a field covered in many tall, thick bones. This definitely wasn't here before, he focused a little and could see some kind of strange figure. Curiosity beckoned him to investigate, after all he had nothing pressing to do. He could see that the figure was welded to the bone like spike above him. It was strange it looked like it was about to attack something. The young blond was interrupted in his thoughts by the Kyubi's loud voice. **"I remember this one."**

"I forgot his name, what happened?"

"**He carries one my legacies I see." **Kyubi said as he exerted some of his power forcing Naruto into his mindscape.

"The hell was that for!" furiously shouted Naruto.

"**It's easier this way."** the Kyubi smirked, it confirmed the seal had weakened if he could do this.

"I'm not deaf so don't shout." the child shook his fist towards the fox whom merely smirked, the demon obliged and readjusted the volume of his voice "Fine, that guys dead but I can hear a cry of my power from him."

"What does that mean?"

"Before I got sealed a wave of my chakra hit some brat, he survived but it cursed him for I felt the same rage from that one."

"You made the curse mark?"

"Let me finish, the brat is the origin of it he inherited my malice and fury. This one isn't that person."

"So is this dead guy like me?"

"I remember his name being Kimimaro. That curse he has is warped by the snake he must've got that brat."

"This isn't goanna change anything."

"Oh it will, you might even be able to get that flimsy goal oh yours hehe."

"Shut up and get to the point!" . Again the fox smirked the kid was so fragile, angry and he could feel the hate coming from him.

"I feel another cry of my power coming from one the scrolls you have. It's a very special technique that can bring back the dead. Obviously your father was hoping to replicate my power."

"You knew my father?"

"That's for another time. You'll need me to use that scroll."

"Why would I do that?"

"He'll owe you a debt for bringing him back. You don't want to be alone do you?" the Kyubi sounded sincere with the last bit, he knew that struck a nerve after all the child never truly wanted to be alone just like every other living thing.

"No…I don't…" the boy gritted his teeth, he had been swayed towards using the jutsu.

"So do it kid unless you enjoy solidarity." and that was all the Kyubi would say as he awaited for the child to draw on his power. In the real world Naruto regained focus and noticed he was still under the empty gaze of Kimimaro. Reaching into his backpack he pulled out one of the scrolls labelled 'scroll of life'. The blond sighed at how cliché the name was and opened it suddenly feeling an odd sensation of excitement.

A few miles from Naruto's position

The young ninja known only as Sai was in fast pursuit of his objective but came to an abrupt stop when he heard movement in the bushes. He instantly continued when a deer popped its head out of the bush. A few more minutes and again he came to a stop and jumped up onto a thick tree branch. Sai summed up that his target had taken to the treetops and that it could take an hour to catch up. The boy revaluated how far he was when he stopped when the tracks on the treetops came to an end. Focusing downward he saw more footprints at quite a distance away. He landed on the ground and knelt down to check the footprints. Sai summed up to himself that 'A reckless jump it's obvious he fell on landing. The target isn't far but I must be cautious'

There where similarities to the tracks as he continued; his target took to the treetops them leapt at long distances to he ground. No sane shinobi would pull such things, it confused him. He pondered to himself 'This person is risking their wellbeing…why? The target better not kill themselves.'

Bone Field

"Talk about originality.." muttered Naruto as he went through the hand seals in his head. The jutsu was known as the Revival no Jutsu: Heaven to Earth, it was obvious that such a technique was dangerous but perhaps foolish the boy believed the Kyubi.

"Tch. I won't be alone."

The boy began making the required seals before fully rolling open the scroll onto the ground, he continued making more seals and the scroll began drawing visable blue chakra from him. Naruto jumped up and slammed his palm into Kimimaro's chest right where his curse seal was. As landed onto the ground he kept his palms open towards the dead one and chakra began rushing towards him. Without fail the demonic crimson chakra began surfacing causing not one but two tails to form. He began to scream it was agonising yet it was working. Kimimaro's body was slowly coming out of the bone completely intact and began reverting back to his more human appearance. He floated to the ground and lay there. However, unknown to the young blond the seal had suffered and was starting to come loose. Internally the Demonic Fox could feel it and began to break the seal further.

"Yes freedom is mine!" roared the Kyubi as he started to bend the bars with his claws but he found they suddenly stopped bending and saw a figure standing before his cage.

"I don't think so" said what appeared to be a man.

"You! Scum I'll rip you apart!" roared the fox as he recognised exactly who it was.

"Not if I do this." the mysterious figure replied as he clenched his fists causing the bars to return to normal, thus throwing the Kyubi back a little.

"Grahhhh! One day I'll slaughter you alllll…" roared the Kyubi as his power shrunk away from the seal.

The sudden surge of chakra made the ninja known only as Sai come to an abrupt stop, in the depths of his heart there was fear. He didn't understand so tried to ignore it and rushed onwards now towards where the chakra surge had been. With Naruto the demonic chakra coming from his came to a sudden halt causing him to come crashing to the ground. The young boy lifted his head and saw that the scroll was charred it was unusable; a one use jutsu. He sighed just before he passed out. Half an hour after the surge in demonic chakra Sai had arrived at the field of bones. He took note of the sand and that it had been disturbed, navigating through the bones he found that they began to part until there was a circular clearing in the centre. There were two bodies lying on the ground, the boy was careful on his approach he voiced his thoughts as he stood next to one of the unconscious "So your Uzumaki Naruto, what happened here…"

Sai didn't speculate further as he realised something wasn't right what was that sound that feel of the air being disturbed by movement. He turned his head and saw the last thing he expected.

**Now that's a cliff-hanger chapter ending. Next time new bonds are forged as is the future. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Another chapter that I spent quite a bit of time redoing, had fun doing it though. Kimimaro makes his debut what will happen to Naruto and Sai? Well go on, read on then.**

**Disclaimer: I don't discontinue fics and I don't own Naruto, ok?**

**Chapter 5 :Realization**

As Sai turned his head he saw that the other person was up and coming right at him, without thinking he front flipped onto on of the large bones that was out of the ground. The figure had torn up clothes and albino hair, he walked towards an unconscious Naruto then looked at his hand then saw some crimson chakra come out of his arm and into the blond boy. Sai was keeping a close eye on this older boy, he was trying to guess how on earth this guy was alive. With all his training he knew that the albino was chronically dead two minutes ago then suddenly sprang to life. The resurrected male looked Sai in the eyes and made a bone shaped sword come out of his arm. Grasping onto it he prepared for battle, in response the raven haired youth drew his short sword. They both struck temporarily caught in deadlock until Sai jumped back and asked. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan. It is rude to ask my name before stating your own." was the response he got before the announced Kaguya charged him making Sai leap onto one of the oversized bones which, cracked slightly under his feet. The albino faced his foe once more continuing what he was saying. "As for what I want… I need answers from this child and I will cut my way through you if I have to."

"I am Sai and it would seem that we don't really wish to fight." explained Sai whom then followed up with a fake smile he'd been practicing, he then continued "I feel that we both need this child as you say."

Both of them were unsure whether to cross blades be it bones or steel, for one of them a battle could endanger his only link for answers for the other the objective he needed to reach would be near impossible if the boy got caught by any events of the potential battle. Naruto began to stir slightly defusing the hostile situation, Kimimaro swayed in front of the boy keeping eye contact with Sai at the same time.

"You have some explaining to do child." Kimimaro said in a slightly hostile tone. Naruto was groggy but it didn't take long for him to snap to attention as he sat up. "Oh my head… it worked… who are you?"

"My name is Sai and it is my luck that I happened on you." replied Sai as he lightly jumped to the ground.

"Thanks I think. What's going on?" said Naruto as he brought himself to his feet.

"I was thinking of whether to kill this Sai, since he is dangerous to you." obviously not quite the response the young blond was looking for from Kimimaro. So he tried to at least prevent a fight by cutting in with "Whoa. Don't kill each other I'll explain."

"Very well, explain." responded the albino in anticipation, he lowered the bone blade he had but didn't move.

Orochimaru's hideout 

Sasuke took a deep breath then exhaled, he was exhausted but it was worth it. The underground training room was covered in deep slash marks and the room was illuminated by something blue but then died down. As soon as this did Sasuke fell on one knee but forced himself back onto his feet, he heard a mocking applause. Kabuto was standing at the door and stopped clapping when the Uchiha glared at him then spoke "See how easy it is when you obey."

"Is that a compliment?" snidely responded Sasuke

"Oh not yet, doubtful but maybe in the future." any further discussion was interrupted by a sound ninja who bowed to Kabuto before reporting "Sir news from Konoha."

Kabuto simply nodded leaving Sasuke to his own devices as he exited to receive the report. Once he had done this he then went to pass it on to his master as he entered the room he knelt and bowed his head towards Orochimaru whom was sitting atop his thrown.

"You may rise." commanded the snake, the boy quickly stood to attention.

"New information from our spies in Konoha." he stated then paused for a prompt.

"Speak"

"They banished the Kyubi under the guise of recent events."

"Kuku. Fools he would've made an intriguing weapon."

"Could we use him?"

"There is no point, Sasuke defeated him I do not need weaklings."

"Still my lord…" the young teen had his doubts considering the Kyubi container was now a potential loose end.

"That brat would be more trouble than he's worth."

"What of Sasuke my lord?"

"Make sure he is ready or else." that was a warning to Kabuto for if he hadn't been training Sasuke properly it would show.

Where we left off with Naruto

The young Jinchūriki finished explaining although leaving out the details of banishment and any of his past. It was pretty much that he used a jutsu to bring Kimimaro back to life and flat out told them he was the container of the Kyubi no Kitsune. It was quite a detailed explanation though, not showing anything but Kimimaro sensed that there was something else about him but kept that to himself. Instead he interrupted "I didn't ask for your life story."

"If your goanna be like that why did you sit and listen?" this time Naruto was being hostile he didn't like the way Kimimaro was acting. Latching onto this the Kaguya turned his face towards him and threw a compliment to the boy "You did something not even Orochimaru could do. You cured and brought me back from death. I'm intrigued to find out what kind of shinobi you are."

"And that means?" he'd relaxed, curiosity piqued by such a statement.

"I won't kill you. But I cannot guarantee I will stay when I next encounter my master." continued the older boy as he finished he turned his head back toward Sai as if demanding an explanation.

"I happened on you, I felt a surge of chakra and was curious." explained Sai.

"Your with Konoha." said Naruto as he had focused in on Sai's headband

"I was, there was some confusion when you left. I used that and escaped." he paused expecting Naruto to interrupt but instead noted anticipation of what he was going to say next.

"Basically I am one of Konoha's dark secrets they held me as an experiment and I recently found out I was going to be disposed of." he paused for a second dropping his smile then continued "I…don't have a reason to live but maybe I could find it here."

"It feels like there is more to you." Kimimaro cut in before anything else could be said, the waited to see what Naruto would say

"Can always do with some more company, lets get out of this place." that was the blonds decision. But as he made it out of the bone field and walked into some overgrow grass he remembered he should've asked something he stopped making the other two behind him stop as well.

"What are you goanna do Kimimaro. You know I could do with the help but that loyalty thing." he asked slightly awkwardly.

"Don't concern yourself, I repay my debts. For now I will give my all for your goal." responded Kimimaro waving his hand in dismissal, he didn't intend to just leave the boy that had given him a second chance, although there was some curiosity that beckoned him to follow.

"What about you?" Naruto asked Sai.

"I will follow you too, its better than going it alone." was the simple response from Sai.

"All right! Lets go!" shouted Naruto in anticipation but suddenly had it knocked out of him when the Kaguya cut in "Where?"

"Ah uhm…give me a minute" Naruto had gone a little red in embarrassment as he thought about it for a second. Speaking of thoughts Sai was going over his mission 'Good I've got his trust, this is too easy. Although he reminds me of someone, no matter I will continue my mission.'

**What is Sai's mission? Only he knows. Next chapter is in two days since you may need a break from the excitement and drama, I do too you know. See you soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

All characters so far are wearing the clothes they have in the pre-shipped manga, they are not naked ok fan girls and boys!

**Disclaimer: I am also not naked and not owning Naruto**

**Chapter 6 : Sunagakure**

Naruto sighed to himself he was now sort of travelling with A; someone who was unsure whether to kill the other guy and B; someone who creeped him out with the very little display of emotions. But hey it was company, at least it was keeping him preoccupied on his way to Sunagakure. So far Sai had insinuated that the two were well gay which, got mixed reactions. This caused Kimimaro to make a razor sharp bone come out of his hand and then put it mere inches from Sai's neck. But for some reason he immediately halted what he was about to do and walked away when Naruto nearly cried out for him to stop. The Kyubi had made a few mental comments mainly cursing the day he was sealed, for some reason Naruto couldn't even talk to the fox as if something was stopping him. He just ignored it since there were things happening one being that they'd just made it to the boarder of Suna, which was obvious by the sudden changeover from lush green foliage to desolate sandy dunes.

"Finally, who are these friends of yours anyway?" asked Kimimaro

"Ah my bad, there's Gaara, Temari and Kankuro" quickly replied Naruto scratching the back of his head in shame for forgetting to say.

"Sabaku no Gaara? This could be interesting"

"He told me he took you on."

"A worthy foe."

"You two can get new clothes." Sai entered the discussion and altered it.

"Something wrong with what I'm wearing?" shrugged Naruto.

"Orange sticks out and is a little gay." the black haired boy replied

"Do you want me to garrotte you?" threatened Kimimaro he shot a stare then looked forwards.

"Uhh…maybe I do stick out a little" cut in Naruto, he didn't want a fight especially now. The Kaguya shook his head before stating the obvious. "Besides we have almost no money."

"I'm sure my friends can help. Come on." grinned Naruto as he picked up the pace.

'This Kimimaro is too hostile, when the time comes I must take him out.' Sai concluded to himself it was also at this point that he knew that this mission would the longest one he'd been on yet. There was also something else in the back of his head a memory that was repressed yet was starting to surface however, he had been taught that such things were weakness thus remained oblivious. Eventually they made into view of the hidden village, Naruto began hearing a familiar voice within his mind. 'Kid those other two scrolls.' the voice was surprisingly quiet but the boy instantly knew who it was he replied 'Oh I can hear you again.'

'For now. Be wary of the company you are keeping' the voice of the Kyubi was distorted in fact it felt like it was fading.

'I trust them, besides I feel we're alike.'

'You humans…'

Kimimaro wasn't sure what was going on with Naruto he had a distant look he waved his hand in front of the boys face who snapped out of it.. He gave a goofy smile in a way saying it's nothing.

"Is this safe." said Sai, considering the circumstances the three of them couldn't really tell.

"Should be Suna's a little different now from what I've heard." was all Naruto could say on this. After all it wasn't exactly a secret of what had happened in the past few months. Kimimaro briefly remembered his time there before concluding "In more ways than one."

Atop the walls that surrounded Sunagakure where the main gate resided a platinum blond haired kunoichi spotted someone approaching and darted towards her superior.

"Sensei three unknowns heading this way." the girl reported.

"Get your brothers, then we'll go investigate." the sensei commanded as he focused in on those approaching

Now in view point the three males spotted a squad coming out of the gates and heading towards them. It wouldn't be long until they met whoever they were.

"A meeting party?" Sai questioned.

"Or hostiles…" added Kimimaro clicking a bone in his arm

"Hey it looks like Gaara!" smiled Naruto upon recognising who it was.

"We should go no further." suggested Kimimaro as he came to a stop in front of them.

"Huh?" a confused Naruto said as he came to a stop too along with Sai who then explained that "We don't know the situation concerning us…especially with Suna."

The shinobi of the sand were Gaara's squad; their Sensei Baki his brother Kankuro and sister Temari. Gaara was a little tense there had no word from anyone about visitors of shinobi status but relaxed when he recognised one of them. Temari had noticed the change in her little brothers mood and asked ."Do you recognise one of them?"

"Only one; Uzumaki Naruto." responded Gaara, a light smile forming upon his face.

"Could be trouble." added their Sensei.

"Oh please he won't fight us." Kankuro assured.

"I'm thinking politically." Baki further added.

"What Konoha doesn't know won't hurt us." calmly said Gaara.

"One of them looks pretty cute." quietly Temari said when she saw the taller of the three.

"Not again." sighed the puppeteer but quickly received a slap up the head from his sister whom quietly told him "Oh shut up."

Before anymore could be said by either group they were now in front of each other, Gaara suddenly tensed up when he saw Kimimaro. They had engaged into a staring contest, waiting for either one of them to make a false move. Naruto awkwardly smiled as did Kankuro the atmosphere was slowly becoming a little dangerous. Doing the only thing the blond could think of he waved both arms before hastily speaking "Whoa whoa whoa their both with me. Hi guys."

"Odd choice of friends. Walk with us." said Gaara as he relaxed but only a little.

"You're the first banished shinobi in fifty year that has 'visited' Suna." stated Baki.

"So news has spread far of this." confirmed Sai.

"Your taking a big risk." stated Gaara.

"Travelling with you know who or coming here?" Naruto shrugged.

"More so coming here." Gaara simply said while shooting a look towards the Kaguya, whom in turn narrowed his eyes.

"They did come this far though." added Kankuro before another staring contest happened.

"We have merely been told to be wary I must speak with our council on this." Baki concluded.

"Let us go a sandstorm is coming." Gaara had sensed the storm and was getting awkward considering someone he saw die in front of him now back from the dead. He took the lead in haste which, somewhat confused his siblings in the way he was acting. As they continued making it closer and closer towards the gate, perhaps not subtle but Temari had swayed somewhat next to Kimimaro. Naruto and Kankuro grinned like maniacs, obviously not in front of the two of them for safety reasons. Sai glanced over towards the grinning boys and simply ignored whatever was going on.

"So…you…always travel like that?" sort of subtlety asked Temari.

"No, recent battle has changed my appearance." calmly replied the Kaguya.

"Oh…too bad." she half whispered.

"Excuse me?"

"Erm uh I didn't say anything." nearly squeaked Temari hastily turning her head away blushing. Kankuro let out a small chuckle but quickly got a smack up the head to shut up from the kunoichi. Naruto was trying his best to stop his grin as Kimimaro gazed over towards him. He'd just about stopped grinning, the albino wasn't that dense it was obvious she'd try to flirt with him. As the wind began to pick up Gaara slowed down and turned his head only towards Naruto and said "You can stay with us for now." He continued walking forwards starting to leave behind the others.

"So much for group decision." Kankuro sighed, his little brother was acting strange today.

"So is it ok?" Naruto asked the other two siblings.

"Yeah guess it's the least we can do." shrugged Kankuro.

"I don't mind." cutely replied Temari making eyes at the Kaguya whom averted his gaze elsewhere.

"I'll inform the guards to let you pass then I'll go meet the council." simply said Baki as he darted towards the gate vanishing from their sight as soon as he got there.

Outside Orochimaru's hideout

The figures of Uchiha Sasuke and Yakushi Kabuto could be seen atop a hill, the silver haired teen poked his glasses he gazed over towards the other seeing just how much damage his clothing had. The shirt was badly shredded and the pants had so many cuts across them.

"Your trainings paying off but if we keep going like this you'll literally have nothing to wear." sighed Kabuto.

"So this is a shopping trip?" there was obvious sarcasm and irritation in Sasuke's response.

"Yes and no. It's also a test, you get to meet new people and if you pass Orochimaru will take over your training."

"Then this will be worth it."

"It'll take a few days so try and curb that cockiness." he wasn't goanna hold his breath.

**And thus we now follow Sasuke's journey I wonder what he'll get up to and where is he going? Well stay tuned. Garrotte means execution by strangulation. Just so you know. Oh and please no fan boy comments on Sasuke's appearance, for the love of god.**


	7. Chapter 7

Warning the word 'blood' is mentioned in this chapter. With Naruto, Sai and Kimimaro stuck in Suna the story shifts towards Sasuke as he begins his test. Will his training pay of and prove his worth to those around him?

**Disclaimer: Sometimes I laugh randomly out loud. oh yeah and I don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 7 : A Change of Pace**

True to Yakushi Kabuto's word it had taken them nearly two days to reach their destination, just as well it was a straight forward trip to get to this base. This base was close to the sea, the base was composed of a large rocky outcrop situated just on the edge of a river, the ground was basically dirt as if no life could exist here. As they got closer they could see a wagon of sorts being wheeled out of the entrance a very creepy scream came from it, almost inhuman.

"What is that?" carefully asked the Uchiha.

Kabuto smirked when another scream was heard before replying "Prisoner transfer, a special one at that."

Just then a grey arm that was on the boundary of human and monster reached out and crushed the driver bringing the wagon to a stop. Then the arm began extending but before this could go further a girl no older than Sasuke came out and quickly wrapped an open scroll round the things arm. Again an inhuman scream sounded as the arm receded into a human one and went limp. The Uchiha had stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the inhuman arm, he muttered to himself "What the…"

"If that scares you then your goanna struggle." mocked the teenage Yakushi.

"Who is that prisoner, that was an interesting ability." it came a cross as an order yet a request from Sasuke. Kabuto wasn't going to bow to an order from him but decided to use it as some form of motivation

"How about this if you complete the task you'll have his name. Although I wouldn't recommend fighting it." the older teen defined. They once again approached until they were in front of the girl. She had dark red hair and eyes she also wore glasses, her clothes were simple; a thin lilac coat that just made it past her belly button, black short shorts, black tights that made it past her knees and slightly raised black shinobi sandals. At the moment the girl was eyeing Sasuke up but was broken from her moment when Kabuto spoke up "It rude to stare Karin. I see that you finally got Number Zero transferred."

"It wasn't easy we lost a few lives moving you know who." instantly responded Karin she then continued "Anyway Number Twenty Seven is primed for testing."

"An experiment is my opponent?" Sasuke jumped into the conversation with obvious irritation.

"Is this guy up to the task." the red head queried.

"I'll vouch for him, he should be sufficient to at least survive." smirked Kabuto

"So you're the 'great' Uchiha Sasuke?" the girl was somewhat mocking when she looked at Sasuke.

"Indeed. He'll also need something more suitable to wear." perhaps he was stating the obvious but Kabuto never really liked the way Sasuke looked, he needed to look more befitting for Orochimaru's future body.

"Uh huh. O ok.. erm follow me." stuttered Karin, she was blushing a little at the thought of well lets leave that part to your imagination.

One and a half days earlier, Suna

To some it appeared to be an endless sandstorm that raged for miles and miles, no sane person would dare go out in something like that. Luckily the sand siblings accompanied by Naruto, Kimimaro and Sai had just made it into the estate before the storm had fully raged on.

As they got in Kimimaro asked for something to put over him since he felt cold which, was odd considering where they were. Although it was obvious even to Sai, the looks Temari had been giving him was making him feel somewhat uncomfortable. He felt that it was wrong of him to say anything considering he was guest in their house. Gaara threw a brown poncho in his direction with obvious distrust in his eyes. To be honest Kimimaro could see where the insomniac was coming from especially when you think how their last 'meeting' went. Gaara walked over to Naruto and tapped him on the shoulder, they both walked out of the room. Kimimaro saw an opportunity to have a quick talk with Sai.

"Him and I need a chat. If you don't mind."

"Fair enough. Come on Temari." replied Kankuro he shook his sister out of her daze and they both left the room. Sai wasn't sure what was going to happen, he just hoped it wasn't going to compromise him.

With Gaara and Naruto

They were both in the kitchen a little plain but you can't really worry about decorating when you're a ninja. Gaara grabbed a bottle of water and tossed it at Naruto who easily caught it, he took a quick sip before joking "I was wondering where you kept the food. All the rooms are too similar."

"Maybe so. However, its is more than reminiscing that I wanted to talk to you." said Gaara letting out a small smile as he did.

"This is about Kimimaro?" concluded Naruto, it wasn't like he didn't see this coming.

"Both of them, I don't trust either."

"Because one of them kicked you butt?"

"I'm serious. He is fanatically loyal to Orochimaru. How he is alive I don't know but he could be using you." warned Gaara, he'd met enough people that would betray for less reasons than loyalty.

"I kinda brought him back to life." said Naruto scratching the back of his head.

"Impossible, I've never heard of such a jutsu."

"Well the Kyubi helped out a little and besides…"

"You aren't lying that's good enough for me but everything considered keep an eye on him. And that other one."

"What you don't trust Sai?" sighed Naruto, maybe he had a point but come on he hadn't really done anything to give any doubts.

"Something about him seems off."

"Aside from him not talking that much he's ok."

"I can see eyes similar to mine when I look at him." Gaara was dead serious, he did not like the company his friend was keeping.

"So what does that mean?"

"He is hiding something what it is I do not know."

"Well don't interrogate him or the other guy, I actually trust them."

"Very well you are persuasive but be careful." Gaara said, he was concerned yet understood that company was company. He also understood why he came here immediately after leaving Konoha but even he did not know what do, he decided that he could try and speak with the council but not just yet.

With Kimimaro and Sai

"This is more than casual chat, so?" it didn't take a genius for Sai to know and state this.

"I've noticed something over the past few days." Kimimaro claimed pausing momentarily to see if he got a reaction but got none. He took a seat and continued "You lack emotion and cannot smile genuinely."

"That is the price I pay as a former experiment." responded Sai as if he'd rehearsed that line.

"My assumption was correct, you must deal with emotions just as I have started to." explained and advised the albino.

"Started…to?" that had gotten Sai attention

"Being give a second chance can change a person. Remember without emotion we become monsters. You must regain it."

"I'll keep that in mind." lied Sai, of course he wasn't going to it was drummed into him that emotion were weakness and inevitably destroyed everything.

"Oh and insult him again like you did and I'll decapitate you." the form of tone was jokingly yet deadly serious, he meant what he just said.

'That was close perhaps I should read up on these emotions, I must adapt and when the time comes kill Kimimaro for getting in my way.' the black haired boy thought to himself, yes he wasn't going to start feeling these emotions but knew he'd have to at least look like he had them. Although now he had to come up with an explanation to Naruto about his emotional 'issues' before Kimimaro could mention it..

Back at the Present with Sasuke

Sasuke walked out of a room and saw Karin whom approved with a nod. After three attempts he finally got an approval, he shook his head at the girl. He'd gone for grey pants, black shinobi sandals and a thin black coat which was parted revealing his chest, well Karin said he wouldn't need a shirt for battle. Sasuke had also grabbed a katana and attached I to his side, again Karin looked at him from top to bottom and gleefully smiled before somewhat gleefully saying "That'll do considering it won't stay intact."

"This Twenty Seven what is he." asked the Uchiha.

"We got him about a few months ago. He had special abilities and we've enhanced them today we find out how much." Karin finished explaining before once again eyeing him up but went ignored

"Sounds interesting." he said before turning around seeing a familiar face behind him.

"Should be. Just remember you are prohibited from using the curse seal. Over reliance on the seal will make you weak." confirmed Kabuto, although he couldn't afford Sasuke to be killed he was hoping the boy would get bloodied a little. The three of them began heading down a corridor until they reached a bolted metal door. Unlocking it Kabuto motioned Sasuke to step forward, as he entered the door slammed shut behind him. The room was huge not to mention white some highly raised mirrors were on one side of the wall. Behind them were Kabuto and Karin, they both pressed a button. Inside the testing room a door opened up and out stepped the aptly named Number Twenty Seven. He was about Sasuke's age, with hair as white as snow which reached to his shoulders and dark purple eyes. He was dressed in tattered brown shirt and shorts. He let out a smile revealing that his teeth were similar to that of a sharks.

"Number Twenty Seven I presume." snidely said Sasuke.

"She gave me a bloody number! Suigetsu's my name killing you will be my game." the now announced number proclaimed.

"Bring it." the Uchiha demanded. Just before the battle began a large two-handed sword with a height of between four or five foot dropped from the ceiling landing next to Suigetsu who did not look amused. Watching on the outside Kabuto let out a sadistic smile, wasn't like he cared if they got injured. As for Karin she knew this was goanna be ugly she knew enough about Twenty Seven's personality. Back inside the test was about to begin as Suigetsu picked up the sword.

"Pricks that nearly hit me and no water how gay is this." the 'test subject' scorned.

"Do you fight as good as you complain?" perhaps Sasuke shouldn't of mocked his opponent as he suddenly found a kick thrown into his stomach, quickly jumping back he showed a hint of surprise. The sword his foe was holding made it look like he should be slow, it proved that appearances were deceiving. Moving into a hand to hand combat stance the raven haired youth charged forth at surprising speed as he got in front of his foe he threw a punch. Just before it impacted upon Suigetsu's face he smiled as it exploded into water on contact. This made the Uchiha jump back a little due to this sudden change. The head began reforming from liquid back into a solid face just before the punch.

"Oh joy when I get out I'm killing a certain girl." frustrated moaned Suigetsu, he now had to live with his face being liquidised every time he got smacked there.

'So the test have made him near impervious to physical attacks.' Karin assumed to herself as she continued to observe.

"Are you a homo or something stop eyeing me up." the shark teethed boy shouted at Sasuke because of the pause in attacks, he then imbedded the sword into the ground. His face began to light up with vicious joy as he made a few hand seals. It was almost instantly realised as a water style jutsu yet there was no water around. But then Sasuke found out why he didn't need water, the shark teethed boy grinned as his arms shot out a jet of water which, quickly formed into a dragon slamming itself into the Uchiha. He hit the wall with a thud and saw Suigetsu darting towards him sword in hand as the water returned to his body. He kicked himself off the wall just in time to avoid being sliced in two but couldn't dodge the follow up slash that went across his chest. A third strike came as Sasuke landed on his feet but only got a small cut on his left leg as he back flipped away from his foe. He gritted his teeth in pain blood was flowing from his chest starting to dye his clothes crimson. Suigetsu's face was off bliss when he saw his handiwork he even mocked "Not so big now are you. Even the whore Karin is better."

A kunai shot out from one of the walls narrowly missing Suigetsu whom laughed at the reaction he got, he then spotted the curse seal upon Sasuke's neck.

"Oh your one of those curse seal crap puppet types." he said, the smile had dropped a little but

"For the likes of you I don't need it." sharply responded Sasuke, although keeping it to himself he commended his opponents abilities but regardless of this he had to win. Activating his Sharingan, he prepared for a move he'd been practicing for the past few days. Perhaps not clever to battle test it, yet this was the time to see if it worked. He knew a Chidori attack would be spotted and if he missed he could be open. Drawing his katana he prepared for what he was about to do.

"A clash of swords? Lets see who dies first." again the white haired 'experiment' mocked him. He didn't really care what his prey was doing now he knew that he'd won and screwed over Karin's little test. Or so he thought as the two of them darted towards each other. Sasuke narrowed his eyes into that of determination as his blade began to emit blue lightening it then grew bigger than that of what he'd trained the move to. As they clashed blades a blinding light covered the room when it died down one was left standing with only the hilt of their weapon left.

Kabuto walked in clapping, Sasuke had won he dropped what was left of his weapon and turned towards the mocking applauder. His eyes widened a little as blood began flowing over his face, there was a horizontal gash above his right eye. Which, proved just how close he had been to dieing.

"Well you pass… barely." stated Kabuto as he poked his glasses

"At least our test was a success" said Karin as she wrote something down on her clipboard. She also looked at Suigetsu who's body appeared to have jellified into a blue colour and was clearly unconscious. Sasuke grunted in pain as he saw that shards of Suigetsu's weapon were somehow stuck in his back and left leg. He was slowly becoming more and more a bloody mess, he shook his head and just before collapsing from blood loss claimed "My Chidori Blade needs more work"

**Nothing like a full on fight scene from start to finish. Curious as to what state Suigetsu was in well I tried to explain it the best I could but basically remember when he got hit by Kirabi(killer bee)'s giant beam of awesomeness? Well that's what he looks like. Tune in next time to see how Sasuke's faring.**


	8. Chapter 8

The aftermath of the Sasuke vs. Suigetsu battle and our young Uchiha finally finds out something unexpected that could change the future that is to come. We also take a brief look in Suna and also Konoha.

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I would be a millionaire but I don't…**

**Chapter 8 : Knowledge**

One of the least used rooms in the complex was finally being occupied after four months; the medical room. Thanks to the medical skills of Kabuto and Karin they'd stopped all bleeding and prevented any scaring of Sasuke whom was lain on his side with what was left of his coat off. There was only two parts of the exploded blade still in Sasuke now one was stuck in his back the other his leg. The only reason they hadn't removed it was to make sure it hadn't struck an artery, it was somewhat a relief that it had not. He'd managed to regain consciousness and was told to sit up slowly.

"Not too terrible. That new Chidori is one use." said Kabuto as he nodded

"Can't believe both swords exploded." from the tone of voice you could tell Sasuke was not happy with the outcome.

"You didn't die or lose. So a deals a deal." replied the Yakushi.

"It nearly killed them both. Hold still Sasuke." sighed Karin as she slowly pulled the last bit of oversized sword shrapnel our of her patients back. It caused Sasuke to pull a face of held back pain as he managed to somewhat compose himself he asked. "What was he?"

"Former ninja of Mist. Those abilities you saw is his Kekei Genkai but we enhanced it from only his arms to all his body." explained Kabuto as he handed a bandage to Karin whom then began bandaging Sasuke's chest

"He's also a bit psycho but you figured that out." the red head replied as she slowly began pulling out the final metal shard from Sasuke leg which, was a little painful regardless he added "Tried to split mee in two at the e end."

"That would've been a shame. Get some rest when your done we head out tomorrow." explained Kabuto as he sarcastically waved goodbye and left the room. Karin was holding some bandages but blushed a little realising it was just her and him left.

'This girl reminds me of someone, annoying in her own right though. Then again her medical skills are undeniable.' the boy thought to himself, he probably didn't realise but he was deeply staring at the girl.

'What do I do he just staring at me…sure he looks good but so far his personality's like a baked potato.' she thought while managing to hide a blush coming up, she returned the stare while holding some bandages but didn't get the response she wanted.

"Will you stop staring and get this done with." he commanded. She quickly bandaged up his leg and slapped it causing Sasuke to nearly jolt up from where he was sitting. He stood up looking deeply into the eyes of a blushing and grinning Karin.

"Why you!" the enraged Uchiha said but he'd stood up too quickly and collapsed onto Karin whom then blushed madly. Somehow she'd managed to hold him up and was thinking to herself. 'Ok maybe I was wrong, he's better than a baked potato. Still he's a bit big headed, maybe I can change that.'

Just as she carried him out of the room she saw Kabuto leaning on the wall right next to the door. He somewhat innocently asked "And pray tell where are you taking him."

"Just for a rest." her voice was awkward as if she was a child who had been caught with her arm in the cookie jar.

"I'll take him, he's not for testing on. Our lord would not be happy if you did." the silver haired boy said as he took Sasuke off her and carried him away. He sighed god knows what she would've tried injecting him with. Luckily Kabuto predicted exactly what she might try and pull otherwise his charge would be a different person afterwards. As tempting as that sounded he wasn't goanna chance it with Orochimaru.

Konoha

It only took three days for word to reach Jiraiya about the recent events in Konoha and return there. Although considerably quick for him to get back like that it didn't save him from being put through a wall by an anger venting Tsunade. She didn't blame him but wished he'd not gone off. Maybe if the sage had been there it could've made all the difference they both fretted over Naruto. What was he like mentally, physically, was he ok? Even if they kept asking these questions it changed nothing over what had happened, the council got its way. But they couldn't push any further due to some of the major clan heads being strongly against it. Tsunade and Jiraiya knew that those fools clung to the hope that the Uchiha would return and some were even more foolish to believe that getting rid of there Jinchuriki would help. The Hokage had a very good idea who had rallied the majority of the council to motion and pass this banishment but couldn't prove it. Currently the two Sanin were inside the Kage's office having a somewhat informal chat.

"Find him, even if he can't return I'm worried." bluntly yet softly said Tsunade as she took a seat in the Kage chair.

"It's not that simple but I'll try my best." Jiraiya's reply was subdued, he had been doing a lot of thinking over recent events which, had put him in low spirits.

"When I told him it looked like he had completely given up. I can't forget that face…" guiltily she said lowered her head to avoid any eye contact.

"He'll be fine, he's stubborn so he won't give up easily."

"You're the only one that can protect him now. It's up to you."

"Akatsuki are the biggest threats, I can handle this but you need to play your part."

"I know but here is where it gets hard. With the council the way it is."

"It was so much easier back then. They never wielded this much power as they do now but don't worry yourself. I'll get to this now." sighed the old sage.

"Good luck." as soon as Tsunade said this she turned to the window and briefly looked back noting that Jiraiya was gone. As long as no one knew of any indirect or direct help towards the banished Jinchuriki things should be peaceful. On the bright side Akatsuki would not be operational for a while which, made it less of a danger and a worry…at least not for now.

Suna

The sandstorm had raged on for three long days but finally it was letting up and slowly coming to a stop. Everyone inside the sand sibling's estate was as a little irritated at being cooped up like that. Sure the company was fine but the waiting around was near insufferable. Only Gaara could go out in such a storm thanks to his mastery of sand. He'd come and gone, currently he was out there somewhere and had been for a few hours.

"Man how long do these things last?" whined Naruto.

"Relax it'll be over soon." replied Kankuro. It would seem that the word 'soon' meant something a little different there since two hours later the storm had passed. There was only a light breeze now and Naruto rushed out of the door taking a deep breath before exclaiming "Yeah! Fresh air!"

"What's the difference?" Sai shrugged as he walked outside wondering what was so great about it.

"They'll be here soon." plainly mentioned Kimimaro as he too exited the estate while stretching his arms. He was right though now that the storm had passed they'd soon find out the situation concerning them.

Outside Orochimaru's 'testing' base

Kabuto picked up a back pack waiting for Sasuke to come outside in his newly self-chosen attire. The Uchiha had opted for black pants, a plain dark blue coat and black shinobi sandals. He also wished to have the family crest on the back but he could wait. He wasn't wearing a shirt for a reason since his chest and stomach were bandaged up. They set off just as they got a quarter of a mile away the raven haired boy placed his hand on his chest and gritted his teeth.

"I'm not carrying you back just to let you know." sarcastically said Kabuto, a little amused by his charges pain.

"Do I look that weak. What was Karin trying to do to me anyway?" Sasuke changed the subject a little, since he didn't know what happened after he passed out in front of her.

"She can have sadistic tendencies. Don't let it bother you." replied Kabuto, he didn't give him anything helpful in his answer. Oh how he loved tormenting people, he grinned when he saw Sasuke narrow his eyes. Silenced followed for the next hour of travel although the Yakushi seemed like he was thinking of something. Wanting to know more Sasuke came to a stop prompting the other to also stop and look around.

"What's the matter? There's no hostiles." sighed the older teen then shook his head in disappointment.

"I can see it you have something to say." claimed the Uchiha.

"You think you can read me that easily. But I guess I should pass it on." the reply started out scornful, then morphed into indifference.

"And that is?" Sasuke pushed on for more information.

"Word from Konoha, your former 'comrade' Naruto has gotten himself banished." simply informed Kabuto, he was waiting for a reaction but got none.

"And what does that mean to me." the younger boy sounded very unconcerned.

"Heh not much of a reaction, you really are cold. So your loyalty is true?"

"Did you expect me to shed a tear? You honestly think I'll betray you."

"It's not just my mind its crossed about your questionable loyalty." shrugged the spectacled teen.

"I need no one else. All I need is power." emotionlessly added Sasuke.

"An acceptable answer oh and here's the thing I promised you." said Kabuto as he grabbed a small book from his backpack and handed it to the Uchiha. They continued onwards back to home base, Sasuke opened the book and noticed there was only two pages. He decided to close the book and put it in his pocket, now the young raven haired boy had some time to think over what had just been said about his 'former' friend. 'Great they used me as an excuse to get rid of Naruto and I thought I was the traitor. He's out in the open now, I hope he doesn't try and come for me. Death is certain otherwise.'

**A few drafts on Sasuke's final thought before you got the one you see, did not want him to come across as a pansy. With that Sasuke begins his training under Orochimaru and we skip back over to Naruto and co in Suna. **


	9. Chapter 9

Sasuke begins his training with Orochimaru, and we find out what the Suna council has decided. Also Naruto and Kimimaro finally get a change of clothes. One thing I have noticed is that before I started writing the first version of this there was only 2 pages of fan fiction about Kimimaro now there's 12, maybe I had some influence but this isn't attempted ego time… For now we go back to focusing on Naruto's group.

**Disclaimer: Another word for denial… according to the dictionary, so I deny that I own Naruto**

**Chapter 9 : Revealing**

One day after Sasuke's test

With permission to speak freely Kabuto claimed Sasuke was not ready to be released from him but was dismissed by his lord. Even if the passing of the test was close it was still passed so earned that right to advance forward. Meanwhile despite the underwhelming two page book the Uchiha had received at least he had some form of information. For some reason there was a constant nagging feeling in the back of his head which, he couldn't get rid of. Why did he feel this way for someone he'd left behind it did make him think and somewhat question what he was doing. Yet in the boys heart he knew that the only way to achieve his goals was this path that he and he alone had chosen. Again he looked into the two page book changing his chain of thought. 'Two pages two people. One I have met but the other is an intriguing person. Curse seal subject…but why is he known as Zero, perhaps the first one to receive…I need to meet you J….'

"Having fun?" interrupted Kabuto whom had appeared almost from nowhere.

"When do I start training?" said Sasuke almost ignorant of the interruption. The older teen sighed then shrugged before saying "In due time follow me."

One day earlier, Sunagakure 

Gaara was heading back to his estate closely followed by Baki. The council had taken their time in deciding what to do with Naruto and company. It was mainly due to Gaara's status that ultimately affected their decision. However, although neither of the two would show it they were slightly annoyed by the outcome. Shortly they arrived and noticed Naruto being his usual hyperactive self.

"Breathing air is normal." Sai pointed out

"But this is fresh air. It's better!" cheered Naruto.

"Like this?" Sai took a deep breath then jumped up and down with an expressionless face.

"Stop that. It's not normal" bluntly interrupted Kimimaro.

"Your no fun." sighed the blond. They all stopped what they were doing not because of the confused looks they were getting from passers by but that Gaara lightly coughed. With a bit of quiet Baki nodded, Gaara then confirmed "The council's made their decision. Lets go inside."

"Because you didn't approach Suna hostile you have been allowed inside. However, for relations with our ally you have a time limit." was what Baki said as soon as they all got inside.

"How long?" asked Naruto.

"We could only get you until tomorrow at midday." Gaara responded in a somewhat apologetic tone.

"Less than twenty four hours. Not much time." assumed Sai.

"I was either that or be detained. Gaara vouched for you three." explained the adult Jonein.

"Ah sorry for putting you out like that." Naruto scratched the back of his head,

"It was no problem. You are my friend after all." said Gaara letting out a smile.

"And do not worry about any of this getting out. As long as you keep to the time frame no one will know. I have work to do so I must go now." Baki clarified before vanishing before them in a haze of smoke and sand. Almost as soon as the adult had left Naruto let out a sheepish grin before he spoke "And uh in the spirit of friendship can I ask a favour."

"Go on." this peaked the red heads interest.

"Well you know when you walk past a place and you think oh that looks nice and..erm" the blond Jinchurki was starting to trail of as he felt awkward but it was all sorted out when Sai butted in bluntly putting it "We need new attire and we have no money."

"At least I was trying to be subtle. Yeah obviously some of us need new clothes and don't have enough money." Naruto sighed when it came to something like asking for stuff he didn't really do it. Which, funnily enough reminded him of when he was a few years younger trying so hard to obtain his dreams.

"I'm sure we can sort something out." said Gaara nodding.

An hour after sorting themselves out Naruto and co had set off, Sai on the other hand said he was fine. But he was forced to come with them by Naruto. Along the way both Naruto and Kimimaro noticed the looks they were getting, especially from the female kind. It was making them kind of uneasy, although for some reason the young blond wasn't as effected. As for the Kaguya, he now knew why he hadn't taken off the brown poncho it had been a while since he got un-fearful stares like that. Sai read a few lines from a book he'd picked up from a shop before speaking what he thought "We're getting a lot of stares from women. Maybe you could strike up a conversation or a proposition."

"What!?" Naruto was somewhat surprised, yet at the same time confused. Kimimaro knew exactly what he meant by proposition and so almost commanded "Stop reading out loud by the sounds of it that book isn't for kids."

"The book also has stuff on same sex relations and…" Sai stopped what he was about to say when he remembered the threat of being decapitated. Well that and he was interrupted before he finished when the albino said "Do you really want to finish that sentence."

"…and that I should probably shut up." replied the black haired boy, not saying another word.

"Sounds like a good book." laughed Naruto before and after he said it.

"Speaking of which, I'm going to the library." added Sai as he excused himself from the group. Soon after he had gone, Kimimaro fell behind the blond boy noticing that he was no longer smiling. Just as he was about to say something a certain kunoichi could be seen rushing towards them until she had caught up which, made Naruto slap on a smile again.

"Hey wait up. I'm meant to help you make the right choice." a slightly out of breath Temari chimed.

"Feels like we're being watched." stated Kimimaro.

"I don't see anyone." awkwardly said the young girl.

"Could be your imagination." Naruto shrugged.

"It's obvious where the rest of Suna stands concerning us." again the older teen stated as he folded his arms. Temari decided to walk ahead of them she knew they were being watched but dared not say anything.

"I think Sai's rubbing off onto you with the stating the obvious thing." sighed Naruto, he couldn't see or sense anyone near so ignored it.

"He's irritating more so after that chat he had with you." bluntly put Kimimaro.

"Try and be nice to him. In other words don't punch him in the face again." the boy shook his head at the memory.

"Made me feel better afterwards. Fine I'll be nice." the older teen actually let out a half smile. They were referring to what happened yesterday, almost out of the blue Sai had let Naruto know that he'd lost his emotion to the experiments to attain the prefect solider. Obviously that failed since he'd again mentioned they were going to terminate him. It made Naruto feel sorry for him and so tried to help him out. Due to Sai's lack of understanding in this field it ended up with a very irritated Kimimaro punching him across the face, although not too hard. That was sort of a learning curb for the emotionless boy to study up feelings etc it may prevent things like this in the future.

Inside the ninja clothes shop.

"Wow it's huge!" exclaimed the blond Jinchuriki. The shop was full of clothes be it shinobi or whatever design you could think of. The décor may be plain as all the other stone houses but the clothing certainly wasn't.

"Best one in the Village, where I get my stuff from." Temari gave her seal of approval.

"Good to see ya again lady Temari." a man in his mid-twenties said. He had longish brown hair, wore oddly enough dark purple trousers and a light purple shirt along with stylish sunglasses on his head.

"Its probably obvious why I'm here Shogi." the girl said, smiling humorously at the latest fashion of the shop keeper.

"Yeah the ripped clothing guy and bright orange boy is a give away." said Shogi, hiding away a chuckle at the orange clothes that was last years 'in' thing.

"Don't say it. I'll cut down on the orange." quickly cut in Naruto as he knew his albino friend was about to say something.

"I'll measure the taller one" a girl of around seventeen appeared out of nowhere with a tape measure. She had violet hair that went to her shoulders and was dressed in dark red trousers and a white shirt like half-dress.

"Every time… I swear you're a pervert Luri." sighed Shogi whom then received a glare from the accused pervert.

"You only measure the cute ones" quietly said Temari although everyone heard it.

"I'm standing right here you know." a now unnerved and slightly worried Kimimaro said.

"Can we see what there is first?" Naruto interrupted the bizarre moment.

"Nice save." muttered the older teen before starting to look around. An hour of stopping Luri measuring Kimimaro and picking clothes later they were almost done, Naruto was trying on something the in changing room. Kimimaro had gone for standard light grey combat pants much like anbu ones, black ninja sandals and a white robe with a crimson outline on the parting, which coincidently looked similar to the one he used to of had. He had decided against a shirt claiming that it was because it would only get ripped which, got a very lewd grin from Luri. This also meant Temari couldn't stop blushing, whenever she looked at him since she was fixated on his chest.

"Are you done yet?" the albino was becoming impatient for having to wait so long.

"Oh yeah! Cool or what." responded Naruto as he walked out of the changing room striking the infamous Konoha nice guy pose. He'd decided on black combat pants, black ninja sandals, a dark orange shirt and a thin white coat which, he thought was super awesome.

"Now that's an improvement. You look more intelligent." approved Temari nodding as well when she saw him.

"Take that as a compliment I guess. Hey Shogi can you put a spiral like the one I had on the back?" the boy asked pointing to the back of his new coat.

"All I need is ten minutes and your old coat." replied Shogi as he took both coats away and vanished into a room. The result was perfection the spiral didn't even look stitched on and matched perfectly. In the corner of Temari's eye she could see Luri rubbing her hands. She sighed knowing this was going to cost quite the pretty penny, so she motioned the two young ninja to go on ahead.

As the two of them were walking down the street since he had gotten a full response Naruto asked "How do I look?"

"It'll do… I wish to share something now that I am rested." said Kimimaro he had decided that he should say this.

"What's that?"

"Where this Sasuke is, he could possibly be near the Konoha boarder."

"We're going there next but why tell me now?" there was some general joy in the younger boys voice yet also confusion.

"I've come to realise and learn something about you." was the simple reply he got.

"What do you mean?" he said and was becoming even more confused.

"You are a fake that hides behind a smile. But maybe this will help." deadpanned Kimimaro.

"…a fake? Maybe… but if you can't smile what's the point." the young blond ran ahead leaving the Kaguya behind. The older teen sighed he'd just hurt that boys feelings but the boy had to know; you can never truly hide forever.

Gaara's estate 

Gaara was having a discussion over the councils decision with Kankuro who had also noticed something else. They were sitting outside in a garden but it was more like a mini-desert.

"Someone's been following them too." a frustrated Kankuro said.

"Anbu desert ops, part of the deal." Gaara confirmed

"Those old fogies of the council worry too much."

"They worry about what Konoha would do. Then again the Hokage cares for Naruto so she would do next to nothing."

"Their afraid of how their council would react. Bunch of cowards."

"Our hand are tied on this maybe in the future things will change." there were hints of frustration in Gaara's voice. As things quietened down between them they could overhear a certain someone making quite a bit of noise nearby.

Just outside of the estate Naruto was having a half-assed argument about what he looked like with well it's pretty obvious. The one who'd instigated it was reading a book labelled 'Feeling of Fashion Flare!'.

"A bit of orange is not gay. What about wearing black eh Sai?" light-heartedly sighed Naruto.

"So last season… I don't understand." Sai read out loud.

"That's a book about fashion not feelings." assumed Kimimaro whom had just arrived onto the scene.

"Your just jealous Sai cause I look so cool." Naruto was almost dismissive of what the Kaguya said. This had been latched onto by Kimimaro, the blond continues to hide his true self. But it made him think about himself and that he was once like this. The only reason he'd figured out the hidden part of the boy was because he knew that pain that sorrow and the will to stop it surfacing. It had been a long time since he'd though of his past but was broken from this by Kankuro shouting that dinner was ready and he'd cooked it for them.

**We stop there. Couldn't help myself with that Temari and Kimimaro moment. Somewhat decided on pairings but I'm not saying you can find out later. Next chapter Naruto's group head for Otogakure.**


	10. Chapter 10

Tenth chapter oh yes I'm entitled to an ego now. Again thanks for the attention it inspires me to continue.

Naruto, Kimimaro and Sai have set off on their search for Sasuke but on their way they meet someone they didn't expect… how will this affect the search if not each and every one of them……

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor can I spell the guys name that does…without copying it.**

**Chapter : 10 Turn Around **

As the next day came the three guests basically ate, said their goodbyes and set off. As an extra parting gift they were given light brown backpacks by the sand siblings since they guess those three would be on the road for a while, Sai had managed to smuggle out a few books too thanks to the gift. Naruto and Sai removed their Konoha headbands putting them in their pouches since they couldn't waltz anywhere near Oto wearing them. A few hours after leaving an awkward silence followed, eventually Kimimaro sighed he reckoned he shouldn't of called Naruto a fake that hides behind a smile. It wasn't really his place since he didn't know him that well, he decided to try and make amends since even he was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Perhaps I could've put what I said better." he paused to see if he would get a verbal response but instead Naruto stopped and looked at him. Undaunted by this Kimimaro continued to say his bit "You should not hide what you feel. Embrace the real you, acting the opposite to what you are and feel…pretty much means you are lying to yourself and those around you."

"I'm not a fake but I can see where your coming from. It's an old habit I don't like looking sad." confessed Naruto, no one had seen through him like that before. Although it did make him curious as how the Kaguya was able to see it so quickly.

"No normal person does." Sai managed to say something relevant to the conversation.

"I will say no more on this. I feel that I overstepped my mark." clarified the albino, falling silent soon after.

"It had to be said. Everything in my life has changed guess I'm not ready yet." sadly sighed Naruto, a lot had happened in a very short time.

Sai thought for a second then repeated something he'd read "Apparently change is good."

"I'll find my own way besides I have two really weird friends to help me on the way." said the blond letting out a true smile.

"I'm not weird just uniquely boned. Anyway there's a town on route about two days away, we can rest properly once we get there." stated Kimimaro adding some of his own humour to it. True to his word they arrived two days after managing to avoid any hot zones of Oto shinobi, local knowledge pays off in that respect. Just as they made it into the town they crossed a sauna area and heard someone giggling. Naruto came to a stop as did the other two, he knew that aged and very perverted giggle anywhere. He asked his friends to wait a few minutes as he slowly followed the sound until he saw a certain someone peeking through a crack in one of the walls. Unable to help himself, he shouted "Look out its the super old pervert!"

As soon as the sentence finished the old man nearly fell backwards as the sound of stampeding could be heard. Where Sai was he could see a whole bunch of girls running into another room wearing only towels, for some reason unknown to him it made him blush.

"What just happened?" he asked

"I don't want to know." replied Kimimaro, he was somewhat amused when he saw the look of embarrassment on Sai's face.

The old pervert was obviously annoyed and had slumped down pretty much sulking. Slowly turning around his eyebrows raised at the boys new appearance then smiled, it saved him seeking out the boy just as well he got that Intel earlier.

"Hello mega-perv." almost cheered Naruto, a very wide smile upon his face.

"Gee you sure know how to ruin an old mans fun. Good to see ya again kid you look more grown up I see." replied the older man, whom was in fact the self proclaimed awesome sage Jiraiya.

"A lot more than you obviously"

"Oh come on you missed me." Jiraiya shrugged, then mentally slapped himself for what he just said.

"You and many others as well." Naruto sighed and his smile dropped to a frown.

"It's just not the same, ya friends miss ya." said Jiraiya putting his hand on the boys shoulder in reassurance.

"What are you doing here anyway?" the sudden change of subject didn't go unnoticed but the old sage played along, since the current subject was a bit depressing so nicely answered "Information gathering, the important kind."

"So what are we gong to do?"

"We? You want to tag along to see if you find him."

"What do you mean?" Naruto was playing dumb but that wasn't going to work here. Jiraiya took his hand of the boys shoulder and sighed.

"Thought so, your going after Sasuke. Even I wouldn't attempt that alone." explained the sage.

"I have got some friends with me, so it won't be too bad. Besides with a super awesome guy like you what can go wrong?" joyfully supposed Naruto letting a small smile escape his face.

"Flattery gets you everywhere." Jiraiya smiled back before turning his head towards two unknowns one of which, had an amused look.

"The tall one's Kimimaro and the other's Sai." Naruto introduced them just as they came to a stop.

"Who's this guy?" a passively confused Sai asked.

"Good question!" cheered the Sanin as he summoned a toad big enough for him to jump on.

"Oh great you've set him off." sighed the blond Jinchuriki.

"I am the almighty, the dashing, the greatest gift to women Toad Sage Jiraiya!" as he did this he spun his head round and pulled a muscle man pose.

"Or the almighty perverted sage." quietly added Naruto which, caused the sage to fall of his toad but immediately got to his feet.

"Hey I was on a roll." jokily sulked the older man.

"One of the Sanin of Konoha, its an honour." said Kimimaro bowing his head slightly.

"At least someone appreciates me." Jiraiya grinned, his head may as well grown twice the size from the sudden increase of his ego.

"Only cause they don't know you." Naruto managed to deflate his ego before he did another pose.

"I have you know I'm legendary everywhere." stated the sage crossing his arms.

"So that's why you got banned from the hot springs." recalled Naruto, he remembered that time Jiraiya got beat up by a bunch of women on their way back after convincing Tsunade to be Hokage. They would've gone on for hours with their ever growing antics, thankfully Sai being his usual subtle self asked if the Sanin could provide them with a place to stay. They had headed for a inn after a brief argument over Jiraiya's leering over some woman that walked past them.

Later that night

For some reason Naruto just couldn't sleep, it wasn't the feeling of excitement that was keeping him awake. He made his way to the roof of the inn they were at then sat down looking out towards the stars. He thought back to what had happened so far; not saying goodbye to his friends because he was weak, chasing Sasuke when it could be too late already. Speaking of the Uchiha he also recalled that the chidori ceased just before it hit him in the stomach, why did he do that? The more he thought about things the more depressed he got, he wanted to shed a tear but stopped himself when heard a voice behind him. "Can't sleep?"

Naruto knew it was Jiraiya so shook his head as he kept on looking at the stars.

"There's no one around. Level with me." commented the older man.

"There's nothing to say." the boy looked away from him with sadness writ on his face.

"Doesn't work that way, come on talk to me"

"You were right I've been a fool and there is no place for one." coldly put Naruto continuing to look away.

"That doesn't sound like the Naruto I know. What happened to never giving up"

"Think about it, I'm in a bad situation here."

"So you quit. What happened to you?" Jiraiya asked which, got several seconds of silence before the boy now gazed in his directing before passively replying "Fate dealt me a bad hand."

"Then throw those cards and get a better set. Since when was destiny inevitable." the sage felt like shouting some sense into him but managed to keep it at a normal sound level.

"…because it never was. I always did fight against the odds. Still things have changed." Naruto's mood had lightened a little, he didn't give up even when things were against him.

"So will you run and hide?" baited Jiraiya, he knew just what to say.

"I won't that definitely isn't me! It's what keeps me going, my reason to exist!" the fire had returned to his eyes, things he'd forgotten had resurfaced giving him strength.

"That's better. But don't forget there always more than one reason to go on and you'll always have friends to help you wherever you go."

"Precious people…how could I forget. In my own way I need to help them and Akatsuki are up there of people that need to be stopped."

"There you go now that's a good reason. Oh but don't go after those guys yet, even I'm not that crazy to go after them all."

"Thanks I can still spin incredible jutsu no matter what happens. As long as I protect those precious I can do anything no matter what happens." after what seemed like an eternity Naruto was truly happy.

"Don't forget me you know how crazy those spa girls can get." the old sage joked causing them both to break out in laughter. As soon as they had calmed down a little Naruto frowned then turned his head round. The Toad Sanin knew who it was and coughed as if to say there's no use hiding. It was Kimimaro whom as soon as he knew they were aware jumped upwards from one of the balconies behind them onto the roof.

"You heard everything didn't you." it wasn't really a question from the young blond more an observation.

"Yes…I did. I apologize but I am glad you still have hope." apologetically said Kimimaro, he'd noticed the boys absence almost immediately but held back due to the Sanin appearing.

"What makes you think he had?" directly asked Jiraiya.

"I know the feeling of almost losing your reason to exist. But it blinds you making you forget that your life is not worthless that there is always something." simply explained the Kaguya.

Naruto smiled a little more "That's true. Of course there's always something to do."

"You merely needed to be reminded that we're never alone." added Kimimaro.

"Smart one you got there. Couldn't of put it better myself." said the Sanin.

"Thanks guys. I feel so much better now. Time for a rest since we're going to be busy tomorrow." happily said Naruto as he stood up. As soon as he'd gone Jiraiya turned his head towards the still standing Kimimaro, narrowing his eyes before saying "I have a question for you."

"Proceed." that request put the Kaguya on edge a little.

"How is it that you live?"

"Your well informed. I do not truly know but I do know that it was Naruto's doing." clarified the teen.

Jiraiya thought for a second, the revival justu was real yet it must've been unstable but he can muse over that later and so asked "And what motivates you to travel with him?"

"Curiosity more than anything. Don't worry I will see no harm come to him, I owe a life debt to him." calmly reassured Kimimaro.

"I'm glad you feel that way, I don't think he'd approve if I killed you." Jiraiya wasn't one to make threats but this was a special acceptation. The very essence of his willingness to kill made the other shiver ever so slightly.

"Obviously you know most things about me. I will be bold and ask a question of those two scrolls he carries, neither of them will open." said the albino, he was now very nervous and had to be careful of what he said.

"Well I'll take a look not because you asked. I don't trust you so don't get any ideas but you haven't done anything stupid so your in-between on how I treat you."

"Understandable I accept that. I'll be less formal on my next question, why did he hide that sadness its something to do with his past yet he won't say anything." Kimimaro wasn't sure if he was pushing it now so took a step back, obviously this hadn't gone unnoticed.

"That's not for me to say. If you really are trustworthy then maybe Naruto will tell you one day. I'm going to sleep now but remember what I said." bluntly put Jiraiya before vanishing in a cloud of smoke and wind. Kimimaro let out a breath of relief, he thought only Orochimaru could put that kind of fear for one's life like that. For a minute there he thought the Toad Sanin was going to kill him because of what he was. He thought for a moment 'I cannot be fully trusted in his eyes. Its fair enough considering, yet I do not wish to see harm come to the boy. This is a dangerous game I have to play.'

That Morning

As the morning came it was time to set off, Naruto and Jiraiya were walking out of the town talking about certain scrolls while the other two held up the rear. Surprisingly despite the fact that officially it wasn't under Oto control no one dared come out at such an early hour. Kimimaro narrowed his eyes as he muttered "What are they afraid of, why not embrace my lord…"

"It is simply fear of your Master. Fear is power." confirmed Sai, he'd over heard bits of what had been just said.

"Be careful what you say boy." this had made Kimimaro a bit angry.

"I merely speak the truth. It's no secret." unemotionally continued Sai, it sounded like it was more than just an assumption more like fact than anything.

"Don't test me. Insulting my lord will get you killed whether there be a Sanin in front of me or not." growled the Kaguya, he was becoming a little hostile now but calmed down almost immediately when he remembered what Naruto had said and what Jiraiya had said too. Somehow Sai had latched onto the sudden change from anger to stillness, yet he'd rather push his luck anymore and so said "Then I speak no more."

There were mixed emotions between all four of them well maybe three since Sai has yet to grasp such things. There was hope, for Naruto even if Sasuke wasn't there he would still be able to find clues. Kimimaro hoped to meet Orochimaru but he was worried as well, Naruto and even Sai had become some form of friends to him. It had been a while since he'd experienced any form of friendship, he was so worried since he knew the odds of Orochimaru not killing them were slime. Yet he clung onto that hope that his lord would let them go. Maybe just maybe things will go smoothly but they could only know for sure once they get there.

**Having to restrain Jiraiya otherwise he could single handily bump this fic up to M rating or P for perverted. Also I require a week to sort out the next batch of chapters so patients please. Next chapter, will they encounter Sasuke? What do they find and what happens?**


	11. Chapter 11

Welcome back, another Ten chapters in two weeks coming your way. So lets get started. Where we last left our four friends they were on their way to one of the bases of Orochimaru but will any of them find what they seek or find something they'd never wanted to?

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto then……. FAIL! Just as well I don't own it**

**Chapter 11 : Findings**

The sun had risen into the sky signifying the middle of the day, walking across an open plain Jiraiya, Naruto, Sai and Kimimaro were almost at the base which, they sought. Along the way the Sanin had taken a look at the scrolls and let out a brief smile when he knew what one of them was, he also told Naruto he'd hold on to them for now since on of the seals was very interesting. Also since he was here he decided to hand the boy a very special piece of paper.

"What's so great about this?" he was a little confused by the paper he held

"Add your chakra to it." explained Jiraiya and so the boy did causing the paper to split into two making him a little more confused.

"Its chakra element paper. The paper split in two so your wind natured." further explained the adult.

"That's meant to be rare." added Sai.

"Cool I can literally blow people away." a now impressed Naruto said.

"Slow down kid we'll work on that after we're done." cut in Jiraiya, there were other things that needed to be done first.

"We are very close now, you are sure?" the only reason Kimimaro asked this was due to the chance of them running into Orochimaru. He would be able to return to his lord but the other would be in danger, for some reason he was unwilling to place any of them in harms way. As he received a resounding nod they entered a forest.

Meanwhile inside a darkened room underground somewhere the young Uchiha was lost in thought his sharingan blazing through the darkness. For some odd reason there was a sense of approaching familiarity. Then the door opened slowly revealing Yakushi Kabuto whom merely sighed before saying "Ready?"

"Obviously." was the blunt reply he expected and got from Sasuke.

An hour passed and outside one of the bases of Orochimaru, three certain shinobi were waiting for one to return after checking the area. Jiraiya popped up behind them nearly ending up with a kick to face from making them jump. They slowly approached closer until they saw a hill with double doors signifying the base was underground and stopped under the cover of bushes..

"The guards light, draws less attention I guess. Stay alert though." explained the Sanin.

"I may have knowledge of this place but the location of personnel and so on I don't know." added Kimimaro as he glanced towards Naruto and Sai. With that said they made it to the entrance, as soon as they were inside Naruto had gone ahead just a little but was suddenly yanked back by the collar courtesy of Kimimaro. Just as he had done this a hail of kunai flew out exactly were the boy had been standing, imbedding themselves on the ground. The young blond went a little pale, sweating a little since he knew that if he didn't pay attention that something like that could happen again.

"New traps have been set up. Be careful." summed up and warned the Kaguya. As they continued down the wide tunnel they came across the odd few traps which, were either badly made or set up and were easily disabled. If a certain Snake Sanin found out about this heads would literally roll closely followed by their bodies. While Sai was aware of his surroundings he certainly didn't look it, something was clearly on his mind. It hadn't been noticed yet, Naruto patted him on the back before pointing forwards. They had now made it into a somewhat large sized circular area with a marble floor but the same old dirty rocky walls. On the opposite side of where they were two other tunnels went obviously in two different directions.

"We may have to split up." simply stated Sai.

"It could be either way…down!" said Kimimaro before sensing an attack. Fire filled the upper part of the cavern, as soon as it had dissipated Jiraiya jumped to his feet throwing a kunai to the right causing a body to fall down onto the ground dead. Seven others clad all in black jumped down surrounding them. However, they had severely chosen their opponents badly. The so called battle barely lasted two minutes, considering Jiraiya and Kimimaro absolutely beat them. Naruto and Sai managed to hold their own too although not good enough since they needed the other to strike their foes down..

"Aww man did I suck." sighed the young blond, he was a little bit ashamed.

"They were a cut above the standard guard. You did ok." plainly said Kimimaro.

"That's the first compliment you've given." pointed out Sai.

"Regardless… we have to split up." interrupted the Kaguya.

"I'll go left you kids go right." plainly said Jiraiya as he disappeared into the left tunnel. The three young shinobi went through the other tunnel which, was rather nicely lit up considering. As they continued down the straight route they came once again to parting in the tunnel. The Kaguya simply stated "It's better to go right."

But as they walked down the right route they heard a strange sound making them snap to full attention. They looked around and could see many explosive tags around the walls which, matched the colour of the walls. As the tags were about to ignite Kimimaro did what he though best and grabbed the other two and threw them as far backwards as possible. Then that section were he stood exploded causing the walls to cave in around him.

Elsewhere Kabuto was going over a scroll about dissection in what looked like a library before being broken from his reading when he felt the room shake. He stood up and calmly walked out into a hallway, he tilted his head to the right seeing a lone Oto shinobi wearing nothing but black. The ninja came to a stop when Kabuto turned towards him politely asking "What was that sir?"

"Not sure myself but lets go see." the spectacled youth simply replied before the Oto shinobi darted in front of him while he lazily walked in that direction.

As the dust cleared where the explosion had happened it was obvious that the tunnel had been sealed off by the collapse. The three of them had been split, Naruto shook his head getting his bearings back while Sai merely got to his feet. The blond quickly got to his feet too before shouting towards the other side of the cave in "Hey! You ok?"

On the other side one of the boulder's was on Kimimaro's left leg but aside from that he was unscathed. Pulling off that boulder he sighed seeing his leg was broken before bone cracking noises could be heard, he had no broken bones now.

"I'm fine, now you have to go left since going right isn't possible anymore." he shouted back.

"We could blast our way through here." quietly pondered the blond.

"That would collapse this section on us." explained Sai while he shook his head in disagreement.

"Go left and keep going straight. You'll reach an area of pillars I'll meet you there." said Kimimaro projecting his voice so they could hear.

"Ok see you there!" Naruto bellowed back.

Ten minutes had passed and Kimimaro was walking down a brightly lit hallway, he stopped as he came to a turn. A few seconds later several of the bases guard rushed towards where the explosion was, the Kaguya nowhere to be seen. As soon as they were out of sight he dropped down from the rocky ceiling and continued.

'I must explain myself to Lord Orochimaru. Yet I must not risk any of my… friends lives.' pondered Kimimaro, he frowned he actually classed those two as friends, comrades still he was trying to come up with something as to not get them killed.

A few more minutes passed until he found himself in a small circular room with white marble flooring but the same old rocky walls there were five doors. He lent backwards a little before throwing his arms out firing bone shrapnel from his fingers into the doors. Two simply vanished while the other two exploded which, left just one with a small hole through it. He remembered this room but had forgotten which, door was the genuine article. As he started to pick up the pace he came to another turn then came to a sudden halt when he nearly passed a white door to his left. While what he was up to was pressing for some reason he just couldn't ignore it, as if it was calling out to him. The moment he took a step into it, he knew that it was 'that' room.

As Sai and Naruto made their way further and further down the tunnel it was quickly becoming darker and darker. Which, was a little frustrating for a certain blond whom sighed "Oh man is it dark, I can barely see."

"Poor visibility." agreed Sai whom then broke into thought 'The Sanin must be right if that's the case then…'

A bit more walking and the bright side was it wasn't getting any darker. But on the downside they came to a three way parting in the tunnel. Obviously this made Naruto annoyed he nearly shouted but managed to keep it quiet "He must've forgotten about this part!"

"Give me a second." plainly said Sai as pulled out a scroll and a brush before drawing several ink snakes then lay the scroll on the ground. The snakes came to life and separated down the three different directions.

"What are they?" a curious Naruto asked.

There was a pause as the ink snakes came back then just sat there in front of Sai doing some weird un-snakelike movement, he explained "For scouting we go left but I need to re-seal them you go ahead."

As Naruto took the left route several minutes past and he was starting to get impatient not to mention a little worried. Just as he was about to turn around Sai came into view jogging towards him then came to a stop as he caught up.

"I was held up. It took a while." explained Sai.

"Well you're here now. Lets go." a relived Naruto nodded as they began picking up the pace .

Elsewhere a certain toad sage exited a door slamming it shut behind him, his face was red and there was lipstick on his neck. He chuckled in the most perverted of ways before quickly composing himself.

"That woman was almost scarier than Tsunade and almost as hot…" said Jiraiya before breaking out in another round of old pervert giggles. After finishing his peculiar moment he began to pick up the pace down a tunnel, he literally darted across some of the traps effortlessly avoiding setting them off. Until pretty soon he came to what looked like a dead end, he knocked on it and found that it was hollow. He swung his arm round and round before punching the 'dead end' causing the wall to collapse revealing a new route. Just as he stepped into the new area he heard rumbling then his eye twitched when he saw a massive boulder flying down the tunnel towards him. He groaned before turning around and legging it away from that oversized hunk of rock. Thinking on his fast moving feet both of his hands formed balls of chakra; the Rasengan in them spun around and rammed them into the boulder causing it to fragment into many piece. He made a mental joke about them not making rolling rocks like they used to before once again going into the newly opened area.

Kimimaro entered a room with bookshelves with very little books and some random bits of paper lying around. In the centre of the room was a surgical table with two small rectangular machines next to it. This medical room had clearly been abandoned for a while, any emotion he had dropped as he knew exactly where he was.

"The beginning of the end… where they strived to save me…"

He felt like he shouldn't be here but there was something he wanted to check now he was cured. Heading towards the shelves filled with books, there was one that caught his eye in particular. It was a notebook filled with his medical records since the illness had begun.

"Internal decay of the organs…lungs and heart dying…disease unknown." the albino continued to read out loud "Patient stabilized yet decay continues…death inevitable…at least three months to live…one week if not kept under medical status."

Shutting the book, he saw another one which was clearly Kabuto's notes on himself which, he thought odd that it would be here. Opening it he was slightly surprised to see information on his curse seal included in the medical condition, it basically said that the curse seal had accelerated the disease and that Kabuto had opened him up deliberately for research. That hacked him off that the spectacled youth had made it into an opportunity, to him he believed Orochimaru must've of not known of this. Further reading proved that it was in fact the curse seal which, had given him such a fatal disease.

Silence followed until he noticed a bookmark which, took him to the back of the book. So far he was unsure what to make of all this but then it hot him like a ton of bricks when he read that page. Almost dumbstruck he read that part out loud to make sure this wasn't a figment of fiction.

"Earth Seal has failed, Kimimaro is also a failure. Will be kept under medical status until termination. My Lord has agreed to this as the Heaven Seal does not carry any of the risks the Earth does."

Kimimaro noticed a note or memo at the bottom and could tell who wrote it.

"Sad really he was loyal but its not like he was anything to the lord. He has served his purpose as the Earth Seal experiment, once the Uchiha arrives I have that 'fun' job of destroying and disposing."

Oh how that made him furious he had always been a pawn to them a failed experiment. How could he have been so blind so naïve, what would he do now. All he could do was just stand there and drop the book.

Kimimaro continued to stand there, his face was a mixture of emotions sorrow, betrayal and almost completely wane loyalty. Something caught his eye and picked up an opened letter, it was the order to terminate him from Orochimaru himself. That tore it a fit of anger he kicked the surgical table over, then punched one of the machines causing it to fly into a bookshelf causing it to topple, a very thin folder flew towards him which, he caught effortlessly. He looked at the name on the file 'Tsuchi Kin'.

Just seeing the name calmed him down a little, he opened it up and saw that her status was not only deceased but in brackets it also said sacrificed. Kin was a woman he'd fallen in love with it was as if they were made for each other but after the failed destruction of Konoha he had been told that she'd been killed by the enemy. His heart had broke which, may have accelerated the disease since he'd given up with everything that was happening at that point.

"Why did I believe that bastard. He killed her." there was only hatred in Kimimaro's heart for Orochimaru now. The door suddenly opened and an Oto shinobi clad in black walked in, oh what bad timing for the Kaguya with rage writ on his face used his arm and impaled the shinobi killing him before he could even uttered a word. Kimimaro pulled his arm out of the dead man and felt something coming from his eyes, he gazed over towards a cracked mirror he was…crying.

As he walked down the tunnel he wiped the tears away and reflected once more 'I was… always expendable in his eyes. My life was prolonged by the Uchiha. That snake has taken everything… without me even Jugo must be…' Next time he met Orochimaru and his ilk there would be no mercy.

Where we left off with Naruto and Sai, they were continuing down the tunnel. Just then the blond felt something tugging at his ankle, letting out a curse he leapt back and just where he'd been standing shuriken had flown into that area. Sai grabbed Naruto's collar and leapt further backwards as more shuriken flew out of the walls, a very clever double trap. Luckily because of his quick thinking they'd managed to completely avoid the trap. The young blond let out a sheepish grin that was pretty close. After that mishap he was even more aware of the ground but that didn't matter now since they had reached the end of the tunnel, in fact it was blocked. He sighed then turned his head around to Sai in a 'what the hell' mood.

"Wall opens." was all the pale teen said.

Naruto pulled a confused face "That doesn't make any sense…"

"A switch." clarified Sai prompting the blond to look around, he found something and just as he knelt down to see what he was Sai had silently drawn his short sword. The Anbu root shin obi's eyes were completely devoid of emotion just as he was about to bring his blade onto the targets neck, he found that his arm would not move. Emotion flowed into his eyes that of shock, he battled to remove this feeling. But just as he'd started a large rock slammed into him pinning him to the wall. This made Naruto jump in surprise, another boulder flew towards him but he easily dodged it. Sai began melting into ink before completely liquidising briefly drawing Naruto's attention before focusing towards his attacker. An unknown ninja approached and sighed "Missed, guess I'll kill you the old fashion way."

Back at that three way parting down the central part was a figure cloaked by some of the darkness leaning against the rocky wall. The Anbu root member Sai frowned then lightly pushed himself off the wall and began walking forwards into a massive white pillared room.

'I…hesitated? I've never done that before so why? Wait that's who he reminds me of… Naruto stirs up memories of…' Sai quickly cut of what he was thinking after remembering his training, such thoughts was unbecoming of the sort of shin obi he was told to be. Yet now that thought was there, he dismissed it for now and continued down the cavern hall until he reached a room full of pillars. The pale skinned shinobi stopped as he made it to the middle of the room, as he predicted three ninja of Oto swayed from one pillar to another. One which, was male boasted about him being of the Fuma clan and how he will be given a glorious death. Sai narrowed his eyes in preparation he could tell this wasn't going to be easy.

With Naruto and the unknown they had engaged into a stare down. Quick analysis from the boy made him aware any mass shadow clones would make it a tight squeeze, not to mention make him an easier target. His opponent stepped into clearer view, the shinobi of Oto wore black shinobi pants, a crimson vest he had jet black hair and was barefoot. He commented on how as Fuma shinobi there would be joy in the kill. It didn't scare Naruto though. The Oto ninja walked closer causing Naruto to completely focus noticing his foe had no pigment in either eye which, to him was a little bit creepy.

The battle had now begun as the Fuma began making seals with his hands, in retaliation Naruto made a shadow clone. The enemy finished his seal and fired a jet of fire towards the blond. The flames tore through his clone and continued, out of instinct he made several clones and used them as a shield. Somehow this cancelled out the jutsu and the smoke that came off the clones obscured his foes view. Which, gave him the opportunity to use his favourite move. Calling forth yet another clone it began forming a sphere of chakra in his right hand. The smoke began to be blasted away as Naruto darted forward hold the Rasengan slamming it right into the chest of the Fuma ninja. What he didn't expect was the guy to suddenly crumble into rubble. He suddenly sensed something coming up from the ground and jumped onto the ceiling of the cave. Slightly angered that this kid was doing this well the Oto ninja began making several seals but never finished. For the dead end collapsed and out jumped a certain Toad Sage, taking him by surprise as he was completely knocked out by a blow to the stomach from the sage. Jiraiya looked up and saw Naruto. "You ok kid?"

"I was about to win too. Knew it wasn't a dead end." responded the blond as he jumped down onto the ground, he had summed up that the Sai he was with was a clone but didn't know why.

"Come on I know where to go." said Jiraiya.

"We need to go back, I think Sai is in trouble." explained Naruto just as he was about to go back the Fuma shinobi had somehow regained consciousness and threw a kunai into the ceiling above him. It had several explosive tags attached to it, the sage grabbed Naruto and darted away from it as they exploded causing that area to cave in on top of the Fuma ninja. They couldn't go and help Sai now which, frustrated Naruto.

"Don't worry that kids stronger than he looks." reassured the Sanin. They began darting up the unblocked tunnel noticing that the floor had suddenly become white tiles.

Sai's battle

The battle Sai had been forced into was not going so well, although he had managed to take one out with a well place explosive causing a pillar to fall onto the unfortunate foe. His remaining two opponents were far too quick for him to perform any drawn out jutsu. It was clear that the root ninja was on the defensive, one had drawn a katana and darted forward narrowly missing Sai. Using the terrain the boy vanished from their sight. There was very little he could do here, the fact is he is not skilled enough for close range battles like this and he had no knowledge of the Fuma ninja's of Oto so couldn't come up with a solid plan. As he was thinking the pillar he was standing behind collapsed causing him to leap into the open. Sai somehow deflected a slash with his short sword, he was becoming out of breath.

Be it luck or excellent timing, an explosion ripped a hole in one of the walls and amongst the cloud of smoke out stepped Kaguya Kimimaro. The Fuma wielding the katana charged him but as soon as he got near had both his arms broken with some very swift movements. The ninja was put out of his misery by having a bone which, shot out of Kimimaro's hand pierce his heart. The Kaguya slowly walked until he stood next to Sai. "Where is Naruto?"

"We came to a three way parting in the tunnel we decided to go left. Naruto ran ahead and these guys jumped me. They forced me down the middle and I ended up here." explained Sai, the Kaguya had forgotten about that parting and frustrated sighed. The remaining Fuma ninja began trembling as he realised just who he was now up against. The ninja took a step back prompting a hateful response from Kimimaro "You are right to fear me. For I am puppet to Oto no longer!"

He darted forwards as sharp bones shot out of his palms, enraged calmness was on his face as he performed Yanagai no Mai the dance of the willow. Despite how beautiful the name sounded the move was not, he cleaved the enemy nearly into two as he stabbed the target repeatedly until the Fuma ninja was clearly dead. Kimimaro stopped allowing the Oto ninja to fall to the ground in a bloody dead heap.

A few minuets of silence passed until Naruto and Jiraiya arrived where they were. The boy grimaced at the scene of the mutilated Fuma ninja. The Sanin could see bitterness in Kimimaro's eyes but didn't say anything.

"Glad to see your alright Sai what happened?" worriedly asked Naruto

"Those three attacked me when you went ahead. I managed to slip an ink clone to aid you. But I wasn't able to give it proper orders so it couldn't warn you merely act as support. I somehow ended up here." calmly replied Sai, it was as if he'd rehearsed those lines considering how there was no pauses.

"That explains the melting. At least we all got here." the young blond shrugged.

"From the amount of noise we've made it proves neither the Snake or Sasuke are here. One of them would've shown up otherwise." explained Jiraiya he knew Orochimaru would've made a grand entrance to entertain him by now.

"Aww man. Your right too what a waste." Naruto was clearly annoyed but this wasn't going to stop him. He won't give up.

The place violently shook suddenly, Jiraiya knew exactly what was going to happen "Well time to go. This place is starting to shake like its going to blow."

"Perhaps that is my bad. I left a few precautionary surprises." said Kimimaro as if he revelled in the destruction that was about to come.

"So did I. Well now we need to go children." added Jiraiya as part of the ceiling fell through opening up a way out. The four of them ran up the pillars leaping out of the hole.

Just as they'd made it to a safe distance a massive explosion ripped through the ground, making Kimimaro smirk. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow towards him seeing that the albino was happy about this. "You overdid it a little ya know."

"It was a necessity to purge this place." merely responded the older teen.

"Are you ok? What did you find?" queried Naruto.

"I'll explain later. Lets just say I am done with the scum of Orochimaru, I should never of put my trust in that monster." hatefully said the Kaguya causing Naruto to shuffle a little away from him. The Sanin had a very good idea what Kimimaro had found, maybe he could trust him more now yet the albino would have to earn it. But now Kaguya Kimimaro was free from the shackles of Orochimaru, he hadn't felt this alive for a very long time.

Where is Sasuke?

Somewhere in central Otogakure underground, the place trembled a little. Inside a large room a door opened and Kabuto entered sighing at the same time. Sasuke had overdone the Chidori blade again, he really needed to get the power balance right. At least the sword wouldn't explode in his face again since he now had a near indestructible sword to wield. The youth looked to his right and saw Orochimaru then instantly bowed.

"He may be a match for you eventually." mockingly said the Snake.

"My apologises." the teen held his bow.

"Dismissed Kabuto." commanded Orochimaru as he continued to observe Uchiha Sasuke. Yes he was coming along nicely at this rate he would become the perfect vessel.

Back with Naruto The Next Day

Jiraiya and the young boy were sitting on the roof of the inn they were staying. Now was the best time to reveal what the scrolls held the older man explained they were blood seals and told him what to do. Naruto pricked his finger with a kunai and placed it over one of the seals but nothing happened. The Sanin took it out of his hands and looked closer at the seal. "A very advance blood seal. I'll look into it further after you've opened the other one."

This time the other scroll opened without a hitch, the blond's eyes widened in disbelief. Jiraiya let a heartfelt smile escape his face, it was time for him to know. Naruto managed to compose himself as well as he could as he read the final letter of his father.

_To my Son _

_This will be my last letter, to protect those precious I must stop the Kyubi. By the time you read this I will not be around, for that I am sorry. If you are reading this then you obviously know that the Kyubi no Kitsune is sealed in you and that Jiraiya has deemed it the right time. I am your father Namikaze Minato, yes that awesome Hokage. Your mother sadly died shortly after your birth, her name was Uzumaki Kushina she was a beautiful and caring woman. And loved you moment she saw you. I do not have long now… Two scrolls will be given to you when it is suitable this is one of them the other is one of my legacies… The fox is near my time has come… I will always be watching over you and be closer than you think. Remember I will always be proud of you._

_Your Loving Father Minato_


	12. Chapter 12

I couldn't bring myself to make an authors comment at the end of the last chapter, felt it ruined the mood… On a side note I've removed all suffixes like san, chan etc etc, just isn't me. But its not like it takes from the story so moving on…

A while after the events at one of Orochimaru's bases our three travellers bump into more familiar faces and even Sai is slightly freaked out by two of them. Also Sasuke comes across that certain event.

**Disclaimer: This story line is protected by me, myself and I. But even that won't let me own Naruto.**

**Chapter 12 : The Power of Youth**

Several days had passed since one of Orchimaru's bases had unexpected guest that literally brought the place down. For some reason Sasuke along with Kabuto had been dispatched to check it out they had just arrived on the scene. What they saw was devastation the ground was cracked everywhere some had caved in while others parts were elevated not mention most of the area was charred and surrounded by gnarled trees. They observed it from where they were standing for a little longer until going into a full combat stance as an unknown shinobi appeared behind them.

Kabuto was about to strike but instead remarked "And that is how you could get yourself killed."

"This must be important if you're here." said the ninja whom was clad all in black.

"Know your place Fuma. Report in." commanded Kabuto. Somehow the ninja gave a decent description it was obvious that one of them was; Jiraiya. One of the other descriptions caught Sasuke's attention which, was noticed by Kabuto.

"Little Naruto has grown up a bit, keeping himself busy I see….hmm." a thought had entered Kabuto's head since the descriptions of the others were rather intriguing.

"What?" asked Sasuke, curious as to what he was thinking.

"Nothing worth concerning yourself with." the teen shrugged it off, one of those people may look similar to someone he once knew but its impossible to think he survived.

Sasuke was in thought, annoyed yet not showing it 'That moron is chasing me. How irritating, your goanna get yourself killed but not by my hand…'

Two months had now passed since the events at one of Orochimaru's former bases. Jiraiya and the others quickly left Otogakure after this. The Sanin had stayed with group for a while but a few days ago had to return to Konoha. He was safe in the knowledge that they would be ok for now. While he was there he'd started Naruto training his newly discovered wind affinity which, so far had gone well he'd finished the first exercise. Speaking of the boy he had managed to get his around that his father was the Yondaime Hokage; Namikaze Minato. Luckily Jiraiya was there to answer some questions and point out that the scroll which held the 'legacy' of his father will not be able to open until he is at least two years older.

As for Kimimaro, he had suddenly developed a habit of calling Naruto Sir, Lord and even Master. Which, annoyed the young boy he doesn't want a servant or someone to swear loyalty he'd rather have a friend. Even after asking for him not be called that it still happened but at least the albino had managed to stop calling him master afterwards. Still it was frustrating to the boy when he was called the other two titles.

Morning had come and our three travellers where in a forest somewhere on the boarder of Konoha. For now the headbands of Konoha had not been put on by Sai or Naruto, sort of tempted fate considering where they were. A week earlier Jiraiya had given the light brown cloaks complete with hoods as his kind of way of giving a parting gift. At least it would be harder for them to be spotted. Sai had begun reading a book while Naruto was read the next stage of his wind element training.

Sai was also lost in thought again 'What is stopping me…can I really do this? I should not think such things, if I don't then lord Danzo will have my head…'

"Slit a waterfall!?! Is that even possible?" sighed Naruto, making Sai lift his head.

"There's a note next that weird frog drawing." pointed out the older teen.

"Use shadow clones to help. Make sure waterfall is not too wild." Naruto quietly read to himself.

"And unlike that leaf cutting exercise I reckon it'll take longer than a month and six clones to do sir." politely added Kimimaro.

"Your older than me stop calling me sir. And besides where are we goanna find a waterfall?" frustrated replied the blond.

Sai turned a page of his book before saying "We'll find one. You should be adept at executing the exercise."

"Uh thanks…"

"The intensity of ones spirit can topple mountains." the pale shinobi didn't really understand how this book helped encouragement.

"Urge to punch rising." half joked the Kaguya.

"Guess that book is a bit much." said Sai as he instantly put the book into his backpack.

"Rather than read it why don't you experience it?" commented Naruto.

"If I don't know what it is then how can I?" was the simple response he got from Sai whom then came to a sudden stop as did the other two.

"We'll talk later you can sense that can't you?" carefully interrupted Kimimaro.

They all pulled their hoods over their heads hiding their faces, Naruto added "We need to be closer to know how many."

"Hostile or affable…. I mean friendly?" responded Sai. The response he got was the other two turning around and he followed suit as they darting in that direction.

The four approaching shinobi 

If anything was distinguishing about this group was that two of them had really bushy eyebrow and if that wasn't enough those two also wore green spandex suits. For this was squad 10; Gai's team bursting forth with the power of youth! Although since Naruto had left they felt a little less expressive so to say.

"Who are they?" a curious Tenten asked.

"Unknown shinobi three males, I can't see their faces but their moving quickly." explained Hyuga Neji as he finished observing them with his Byakugan.

"Let us check it out." calmly replied Tenten, whom then saw the spandex duo become lively.

"With spirit and flames of youth." cheered Rock Lee as he sped up.

"That's the way! Whoo lets go!" triumphantly said Might Gai with the blazing will of fire surging through his eyes. Neji and Tenten just sighed as they followed suit in a less over enthusiastic way.

Back with the others

"Their hostile, considering the speed their pursing us with. Their goanna catch us." analysed Sai, their pursuers may as well of been shouting we're coming to get you.

"You want to get away then leave this to me." a willing Kimimaro said, he definitely still had that loyalty complex.

"May be the only way." coldly agreed Sai.

"No. I won't leave any of you behind we break through if we have to." a very determined Naruto said.

"I think they just scattered." commented Kimimaro but then was completely taken by surprise when a grown man wearing spandex came out of nowhere shouting "Dy-nam-ic entry!" sending him flying with a powerful kick to the stomach instantly pursued by the man.

"He should be fine but we have three others to worry about." analysed Sai as they continued going forwards.

"Great we're up against Squad 10." worriedly said Naruto. Just as he had said that Lee came out of nowhere as did Neji. To avoid running into Lee, the hooded blond came to an abrupt stop while Sai hadn't realised so went forwards for a bit longer but he suddenly found himself knocked further forwards by some kind of chakra infused air from the palm of the Hyuga.

Meanwhile, Kimimaro had managed to recover from the surprise kick and landed onto a branch as did Gai on the opposite side. The Kaguya almost did a double take when he saw who he was up against.

"You remind me of someone."

"I don't think we've met." youthfully replied the 'hip' man.

"Withdraw, myself and them do not wish this." the Kaguya was having none of this bizarre person.

"Declare your intent in Konoha or prepare yourself."

"Our business is our own." Kimimaro paused before pulling hood revealing his face "Now withdraw or we will force our way through."

"Come on then! Lets go!" bellowed Gai prompting a sigh from the teen. Battle was now inevitable, all three of them needed to do a hit, regroup and run. But for now the teen had to focus, this guy was different to the one he faced before.

Making the first move Kimimaro used his mid-range move; digital shrapnel firing bones out of his finger tips Gai simply vanished as the bones smashed into the tree. The teen looked around and couldn't even see where his foe had gone. He soon knew as he found a foot smack into his chest sending him crashing through the trunk of the tree he had been standing on. Managing to get to his feet he could see Gai standing a few meters away from him in a youthful battle stance. Kimimaro's chest began making bone breaking noises that kick he'd received had broken some of his ribs but they fine now seeing that he'd made the man cringe a little he pulled a bone blade out of his kneecap. Gai vividly remembered Lee speaking about fighting someone like this, undaunted by this slightly creepy display he exploded forwards then flickered in front of the teen. Gai had somehow gotten behind and went to strike Kimimaro, of whom had anticipated this and was prepared spinning around taking a unique stance. Just before he got hit he performed Tsubaki no Mai the dance of the Camellia and initiated many rhythmic thrusts towards his foe. To his shock and intrigue Gai was dodging every strike despite how close he was. The dance of the Camellia was his fastest taijutsu move this person he was up against was by far stronger than he was in close quarters combat. He knew this was problematic a drawn out battle will result in him being defeated.

Sai's battle with Neji hadn't really started just yet, a bit of running around and exchange of projectiles that missed by miles doesn't really count as battle. It didn't take too long for the Hyuga to force him to stop after all Sai had noticed he was going to be too far from the others at this rate.

"Who are and why are you here?" ordered Neji there was a pause.

'What would Naruto say in this situation.' pondered Sai before he remembered something the blond had said but altered it for the situation "No reason that boneheads like you know"

"…Your so over." that had annoyed the branch member, he wasn't expecting an insult he hated rude people and this guy was goanna get it now.

'Perhaps that was a bad idea' thought Sai, he reckoned that it probably wasn't the right thing to say. This was an unnecessary battle yet for the mission he was left with no choice.

Taking the initiative Sai pulled out a scroll with earlier drawn pictures on it and called forth two tigers. He intended to keep himself at range considering it was a Hyuga he was up against. Just before the ink tigers struck Neji used Rotation blowing back the false creatures exploding into ink as they hit the trees. Sai pulled out another ready made scroll and five more ink tigers appeared. This time they got half way to their target before two exploded into ink suddenly, Sai focused and could see that Neji was somehow firing chakra infused air from his palms as another one got taken down. Pulling out another scroll and an ink brush he began painting his next attack. His foe was quickly closing the distance since the last of his current ink tigers were destroyed. As soon as he'd finished Neji was right in front of him, taken by surprise he tried throwing a few punches but they weren't quick enough nor did they hit. Seeing the opportunity Neji hit several points of Sai's chakra network. Sai jumped back a little throwing a smoke bomb.

'Am I really this poor in close quarters? Time to regroup.' Sai berated to himself as he managed to get some distance again. But the damage had been done he couldn't use his false ink mimicry move anymore the creatures did not even move from his scroll. Noticing that his enemy was closing the distance quickly he threw several kunai which, were dodged easily. But he threw some more one had a flash bomb attached to it. Quickly covering his eyes Sai waited for the flash to subside and could see that Neji had been blinded for now. Although he dare not get in close just to be safe, so Sai made a run for it in the direction of where Naruto was

As soon as Naruto had come to an abrupt stop he soon realised that was a stupid thing to do. He was separated from the others now and considering Kimimaro was taking on Gai of all people it could take awhile for them to regroup. The hooded boy wanted to remain anonyms since he was a little ashamed to show his face to the friends he left behind. He was also a little excited it was an opportunity to see how much stronger he'd become yet also reluctant considering it was Rock Lee.

"I sense the hidden power of youth within you." said Lee which, merely got silence from the boy so he asked "So why are you here?"

"Looking at the sights." replied Naruto throwing a deep voice.

"Why are you really here." he got another response of silence so let the fire inside of him form into words "Have it your way. Let the power of youth explode!"

"Yeah sure…" an even less convincing deep voiced Naruto sighed.

"Do not act so cool!" snapped the spandex wearing youth.

After a few brief exchanges it was obvious who was more proficient in taijutsu. The start may have been to gauge each others strength but man was Naruto sore from the punches he'd received. By some miracle he'd managed to keep his face hidden but the real battle was now beginning. Lee charged towards Naruto whom was unable to stop a kick being slammed into his chest. The sheer impact threw made him air bound as he flew backwards, noticing Lee was heading right for him he decided to make four shadow clones. The clones stopped him flying any further backwards and also had put Lee on guard in preparation. The four clones attacked leaving the real Naruto behind as he decided to take a risk. Making several hand seals he was a little worried he wouldn't finish in time as he saw his clones being taken down way too easily. Fortunately they had bought enough time as soon as Lee was done he also had finished. Naruto performed a jutsu that Jiraiya had given him a scroll on; **Wind Element: Wind Depression**. A gust began to pick up until it became like a whirlwind which, surged forwards hitting Lee. Although this jutsu was only risky to the user since he hadn't completed his element training. Unable to fully control the jutsu Naruto also got caught by it. Both received a considerable battering from the technique but the blond knew that Lee would be ok this jutsu was not meant to be fatal. Dust had been kicked up covering their view then something popped into Naruto's head as the jutsu finished.

"That hurt you more than me then." the still cloaked blond commented. But was completely shocked when a slightly bruised Lee was not only still standing but was heading right for him. Lee kicked him into the air the undid the bandages around his arms wrapping them round the boy. Naruto cursed as he knew exactly what was coming. With all his fiery youthful might Rock Lee unleashed the Primary Lotus! slamming his foe into the ground. He leapt back from where he'd just landed his attack but it was turn to be shocked as his opponent just vanished in a cloud of smoke. The real Naruto was hidden behind some bushes and seeing his opportunity began to sneak away but suddenly out of nowhere a kunai whizzed through the air hitting him in the left shoulder. Somehow he kept his footing but the attacker made herself known when Tenten pulled out a scroll summoning a short sword. He pulled out the kunai in his shoulder and parried a slash from the girl.

Kimimaro had felt a draft from behind him as he broke off from a pass by strike with Gai. 'That surge of chakra… I'm worried now especial since I can now sense the forth ninja. I'm far enough from this person.'

The older teen was somehow a considerable distance from Gai now in combat terms, making it appear as if he was about to strike he leapt into a bulk of foliage in a tree. About a minute passed Gai was being cautious but he closed the distance and realised that he had deceived him. Although this had bought some time it would be long until he'd catch up. Kimimaro knew this so needed to act fast, he saw Naruto fighting Rock Lee and Tenten. The blond was clearly being outmatched as he narrowly avoided being stabbed by the girl. Seeing his opportunity the Kaguya leapt in-between Naruto and the others blocking a high kick from Lee and also pushing Naruto back just in case causing the boy to fall over. Taking note that he still had the element of surprise he grabbed Lee's leg and threw him backwards into Tenten.

"Sir withdraw, I'll handle this." just as he had said this Sai had arrived landing next to them both. The blond got to his feet and noticed his hood had come down, he closed his eyes letting out a sigh.

"Naruto its you! What are you doing here?" a staggered Lee said.

"There goes my low profile." muttered Naruto letting out an awkward grin, to him if he ran now it would make him feel bad not to mention they were friends. Gai and Neji caught up about to attack but stopped in their tracks when they saw who it was. Kimimaro blocked their view of the blond ready to defend him but saw the boy putting both his hands up then tell him their friends. Gai got a proper look at Naruto and so gave him a thumbs up.

"It had been too long my youthful friend!"

"Hi guys. Guess I should explain myself." a still somewhat awkward Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head. This was going to be hard to explain considering he just up and left without a goodbye. But even he knew something like this was going to happen eventually may as well be sooner than later.

**On another side note only ninjutsu will appear in bold because I'm cool…**

**Next time Naruto and co team up with squad 10. As waterfalls surge chaotically new ripples of change reveal themselves. **

**Also can I have some reviews or I'll make Gai do pelvic movements later on…**


	13. Chapter 13

_**After a shaky reuniting, Squad 10 and Naruto and co join sides in this epic chapter but why is it epic? Well you'll just have to read on…**_

_**Disclaimer: Basically as a matter of fact I don't own, maintain or retain Naruto**_

_**Chapter 13: Raging Waterfalls**_

_Walking across a slope in a grassy hilled landscape were Squad 10, Naruto, Kimimaro and Sai. Gai had taken the lead after explaining they were currently on a mission, they began to chat about old times and what had happened. Despite the earlier misunderstanding so to speak they were all getting on quite well. Kimimaro immediately explained how he lived when Lee recognised him well he didn't tell the full truth. He pretty much said the disease had almost killed him putting him in a death state luckily Naruto showed up and prevented him from dieing by removing his illness. Lee was a bit suspicious but accepted it since Naruto added that the guy was his friend now. Neji on the other hand was very untrusting of the new friends the blond had picked. Naruto had finished telling the tales of his travel so far; what happened after leaving, going to Sunagakure and his run in with Jiraiya. Although he'd forgotten one thing._

"_You didn't answer why you fought us." plainly said Neji._

"_Well we didn't know who you guys were until Gai sensei showed up. I just wanted to get out of there basically. I'm ashamed that I left like that guess I'd rather not…"_

"_You don't need to explain that banishment thing is crap." said the kunoichi noticing he was feeling awkward this also caused Lee's eyes widen, Tenten isn't one to curse even when she's angry._

"_Erm thanks… so what are you guys up too?" the blond questioned._

"_We are off to Takigakure; the Waterfall country to help take down some rouge ninja." Gai replied in his usual self proclaimed hip tone._

"_B rank mission huh? You three are Chuunin already." half asked and half stated the blond whom got a nod from them. "Can we tag along?"_

"_You can't be serious. Involvement will jeopardise us with Konoha." interjected Sai this would compromise his mission. _

"_We won't mention it in the report." responded Neji, this made Sai frown why did he not mind, where did this feeling of excitement come from?_

"_Gai sensei can we bring them with us?" asked Lee._

"_Yes! A fine addition to our youthfully hip team." cheered Gai as he went into a variety of poses making everyone but Lee whom joined in and Sai, sweat drop at the spectacle._

"_Don't even think about copying them." Kimimaro whispered to Sai whom was just about to do a thumbs up._

"_How is everyone anyway?" Naruto interrupted the youthful moment._

"_As you'd expect upset, depressed and your old squad has been very quiet." bluntly put Neji whom received a slap up the head from Tenten. He was just being honest but he didn't have to be that honest._

"_Whoever banished me is goanna pay for this." the young blond mumbled to himself which, was heard by Kimimaro._

"_Revenge? I don't blame you." the albino muttered to himself._

_A couple of hours had passed and squad ten where far ahead of them although not so far they couldn't catch up. It was a good opportunity for Sai to voice his curiosity._

"_Why are we helping them?" _

"_Their friends and its an exciting adventure." explained Naruto smiling a little._

"_An adventure? I don't understand." the confused black haired youth said._

"_Ya know doing something different something ya wouldn't usually do." cheered the blond holding a thumbs up waiting for the them to join in which, made Kimimaro sigh before giving a thumbs up too. Sai shrugged before giving a thumbs up then they all continued following Gai's squad._

'_Getting excited by breaking protocol? I should not revel in disobeying Danzo yet…' thought Sai, did he really enjoy being with these guys? Would he stand against the one he called 'lord' for them?_

"_This could also help your training although the waterfalls are as wild as they can get in Taki mas…t be careful with them." explained Kimimaro after the hype fell a little somehow stopping himself calling Naruto master since he knew that pissed him off. He remember that a few days ago the boy said he was his own master who made his own choices. The kid did have a point. _

_Gai was right at the front of the group far enough forward to not hear what his cell were talking about. The adult was also thinking of what to say when they met their contractor considering there were three more additions. Anyway Neji decided to be blunt again when he told Lee and Tenten "I don't trust the company he's keeping, then again they probably don't trust us either."_

"_That Kimimaro guy seems ok." said Tenten with a smile._

"_Only because you think he's cute." remarked the Hyuga._

"_Oh shut up fluffy bunny boy." retorted the girl receiving a glare from Neji whom wondered why she had to use that so he has a few cuddly fluffy rabbits that he occasionally hugged what's wrong with that?_

"_Then we shall prove ourselves to them if not I will do three hundred press ups and if that's not enough then…" abruptly cheered Lee with raging spirit._

"_Can you two try to be normal?" Tenten cut of the overenthusiastic boy since he was getting louder and louder._

_After a bit more travelling night came and camp had been set up. Kimimaro smoothly removed his cloak which, made Tenten blush slightly at his half exposed chest and Lee noticing the curse mark was gone. Naruto joined in and awesomely pulled his cloak off showing how much his appearance had changed, Gai's eyebrows lifted briefly at the boys new look. Sai rolled his eyes an expression he'd read about and lazily did the same. Did they have to try and be that dramatic he thought and went to sleep, just everyone else slept they all talked for a while about general stuff nothing serious though just general chit chat._

_Morning came and greeted the others to the sight of Gai and Lee shouting about the springtime of youth followed by hugging with the sunrise behind them. Sai just stared at them remembering this was not normal behaviour. After that expression of emotion they were on the road again eventually arriving in front of gigantic waterfall just before midday. They waited for a few minutes until two local shinobi approached them. One had the appearance of being in his late teens whit long black hair. He wore a light blue coat with a metal armguard on the left shoulder, lightish black pants and of course the headband bearing the symbol of his village tied on head. The other was obviously older than Gai due to his aged appearance and grey hair. The old man wore navy coloured pants, a long sleeved light blue shirt with a jonein vest over, the symbol of his village was on his right shoulder. The younger of the two introduced themselves._

"_My name is Shibuki and this guy is Raijo."_

"_You're the Takikage. You didn't have to greet us personally." plainly said Gai_

"_W well you did come this far. Why a are there seven of you." stuttered Shibuki._

"_They recently became Chuunin and require the experience, also the mission description was vague so we decide to increase our manpower." explained the spandex wearing man, he'd practiced that line just in case._

"_Ah um I apologise well Raijo will give a better description." as the Takikage turned around to leave he nearly tripped over himself. He then vanished in swirl of water, the older shinobi of waterfall sighed before handing Gai a scroll._

"_All the details are in here. Good luck." explained Raijo whom walked off in the direction of where Shibuki had been._

_A few hours of planning and tracking later they had surprisingly acquired their target, usually it could take days guess luck was on their side. There were three of them two of which, appeared to be wearing shoddy black versions of Anbu clothing. The main target had metallic chain mail on his arms with a very dark blue jacket with the hood obscuring his face and murky brown pants. Gai gave the signal and several smoke bombs where thrown. Naruto used the cover of the smoke and dashed forwards kunai in hand stabbing on of the black clothed enemies. His eyes widened as the target fell and realised a patch of blood was on his cheek, the boy had frozen. Kimimaro leapt in front of him to make sure the enemy didn't take advantage of this. The other black clad target was taken down easily considering he had to contend with Lee and Neji. Sai had forced the primary target backwards out of the smoke with ink like darts, the target was about to do a runner but got struck by several kunai from Tenten. Gai took the opportunity and kicked the rouge upwards. Taking to the sky he quickly brought the unlucky foe crashing to the ground with an energetic Primary Lotus! Mission complete._

_Afterwards on the way back Naruto had fallen quiet behind everyone. Kimimaro took note of this and fell back until he was next to the boy. His friends face was that of sadness and shock. The older teen looked at him._

"_That was your first wasn't it"_

"_I just rushed in then next thing I know…" Naruto went silent then rubbed the blood off his cheek._

"_Bright side it was quick and clean." reassured the albino._

"_It felt right and wrong that can't be normal."_

"_We are shinobi that pit our lives against others, kill or be killed."_

"_Does it get better, will I eventually feel nothing?"_

"_If we feel nothing when we kill then we are monsters. You're a match for most shinobi now but freezing up like that won't help." Kimimaro had acknowledged him as truly strong which, had dumbstruck the boy prompting a smile from the older teen. "I won't repeat myself my friend. You're strong you'll be fine."_

_By the time they got back to where the large waterfall was the sun was starting to set it wouldn't be long until night came. A brown feathered bird descended from the sky and perched itself on Gai's shoulder. There was a message attached to its leg which, he read. Shibuki had appeared again and saw the bird fly away._

"_I am required back in Konoha…" Gai was about to continue but was hastily interrupted by Shibuki when he interjected "If its ok with you there's another mission I would like your team to do." _

"_What kind of mission?" the adult was suspicious._

"_O only C rank nothing dangerous." the young Kage timidly replied._

"_This isn't my call." simply said Gai looking at the others._

_Lee punched his fist in the air accepting the mission "I will do it!" _

"_I don't really mind" Sai was actually enjoying the company although didn't show it. The others nodded in agreement which, made Gai give a shining toothy smile before letting them know he'd either be back or a messenger bird will arrive giving the order to return. His body then flickered before them vanishing from sight, Kimimaro was impressed for that was the adults sheer speed that had done that._

"_Sort of embarrassing but the mission is to patrol an area around the waterfall" goofily said Shibuki._

"_Are you expecting someone?" Neji was suspicious of this guys behaviour._

_Shibuki took a stepped back before hastily saying "No…not at all…we seem to find ourselves short-handed that's all"_

"_Lets not interrogate the poor guy." intervened Kimimaro._

"_Glad we have… that cleared up" the young Kage was slightly relived before handing a scroll to the oldest teen detailing the area that needed patrolling. He nearly tripped over again as he disappeared in a cloud of mist._

"_A bit jumpy for a Kage." plainly put Naruto raising an eyebrow to emphasise the point._

"_Too young obviously inherited the position." added Sai._

"_A coward…" Neji was about to add more but saw a certain kunoichi glaring at him._

"_You three can be really mean ya know." somewhat scolded Tenten._

"_The area we're covering means we're going to have to divide into three teams." Kimimaro interrupted starting to think about the current objective._

_Soon after a brief discussion ensured deciding how they'd pair off even coming up with unit names. They had divided into the following; Kimimaro and Tenten under the name Spirit, Naruto and Neji under the name Fire and last but not least Sai and Lee under the name Guts. Team 'Fire' were in charge of patrolling the area just around the waterfall. As soon as the others had left Neji had decided something._

"_I must speak with you about my cousin."_

"_Hinata? What's the matter?" Naruto's curiosity was piqued._

"_If I think what is going to happen I will need your help let me elaborate…"_

_After the team known as 'Spirit' had made it to their location they began patrolling, Tenten had started a conversation as soon as they had got there._

"_How did you meet Naruto anyway?"_

"_He found me and saved my life. And from that we became friends." replied Kimimaro with a light smile upon his face._

"_What do you think of him then?" the kunoichi asked, she was curious about this guy._

"_He wears his heart on his sleeve. Which, is probably why things aren't dull." simply replied the male. A moment of silence followed he noticed that she averted his gaze and was blushing a little. Maybe Naruto was rubbing off on him since he felt mischievous and with a Cheshire like grin he remarked to the girl "Now what is going through that head of yours making you blush so?"_

"_Huh erm n nothing!" she had gone even redder._

"_I'm just messing with you lets focus on the patrolling." added the albino now amused since the girl had stormed ever so slightly ahead oh him, her cheeks almost as red as a tomato._

_The aptly named team 'Guts' had also begun their patrol so far Lee's attempts to get a in-depth discussion from Sai hadn't gotten far. In fact he found the guys attitude so 'cool' which, made Sai rather confused he was just being himself what was cool about that. He didn't muse further since he came to a stop along with Lee and went for cover. They remained hidden as several ninja rushed by, once they had passed Sai looked towards the direction those ninja had gone knowing they were heading right to where Naruto was. He simply said they must regroup and follow them. This made Lee once again think him to be so 'cool' and smooth by the way he'd said it as they followed on._

_Back with 'Fire' Neji had just finished his discussion what it was about well that's a secret. They had just finished their first round on their patrol and had ended up in front of the large waterfall once more._

"_I hope it doesn't come to that." sighed Naruto he was concerned by what he'd heard._

"_But if it does I will be powerless." _

"_Don't worry if it does I give you my word." promised Naruto giving a smile and a thumbs up. Just as they were about to pass the waterfall they both stopped at the same time Neji was a little impressed at how sharp his friends senses had become. _

_The Hyuga activated his Byakugan and narrowed his eyes. "We have company twelve definite hostiles approaching."_

"_Not even we can take that many on." the now concerned blond added._

"_Make that twenty it's a raid. Our comrades are headed this way too." _

_Soon after the twenty rouge ninja arrived in front if the waterfall all but one wore similar gear; light blue shirts with grey flak jackets and black ninja pants. One stepped forwards and held his hand out causing the ground to shake. It confirmed what he had wanted and motioned for the others to go through. This guy had long spiked back hair held back by a beige bandana, a dark blue zipped up trench coat and light grey ninja pants. He smirked for a second and turned to three of the rouge ninja, one clearly aged and the other two in their late twenties._

"_You three deal with the two rats"_

"_Fine alright Suien." one of the younger rouges replied. Suien then leapt into the waterfall followed by seventeen others. As soon as they had done this the remaining rouges threw several shuriken towards a bunch of bushes causing the 'rats' to jump out into the open. As soon as Naruto and Neji had landed they could see that two of them were missing ninja of Iwa and the other a missing ninja of Taki._

"_What the…Yellow Flash?" the older Iwa shinobi faltered for a second._

"_You senile old man that's a child. Lets waste them." the younger Iwa shinobi expressed his irritation by shaking his fist. Naruto was a little concerned since these guys looked like they were a cut above all the ninja he's faced to far._

_The other two teams had met up and were now very close to the landmark that is the huge waterfall. The noise of battle could be heard as they got closer, they all felt a gust of wind making Kimimaro sigh that was another incomplete wind jutsu someone shouldn't be using. He decided to hide as the rest appeared in the open coming to the aid which, surprised and annoyed the rouges. Lee rushed forwards causing the enemies to split up, the eldest realised that he should withdraw but wasn't fully aware of his surrounding as the Kaguya made himself know from behind the rouge instantly running him through. This freaked out on of the rouges and distracted him. Seeing the opportunity Naruto gritted his teeth before slamming a __**Rasengan **__into the enemy resulting in instant death. The blond was breathing erratically he didn't freeze up yet needed to re-gather his nerves. The last remaining foe realised he was pretty much screwed now and tried to leg it. What he didn't notice was that Lee was right behind him and as he turned received a kick to the jaw throwing him upwards. Neji leapt towards him dealing the finishing blow causing the unfortunate ninja to hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. _

_This skirmish was over Naruto was still gritting his teeth but managed to calm down when Kimimaro put his hand on the boys shoulder giving a reassuring nod. Soon after this Shibuki jumped out of the waterfall pursued by two of the rouge squad which, were very quickly taken out by Tenten's pinpoint accuracy with projectiles. The Kage stood on an outcrop near the waterfall shaking a little obviously fearful of what was happening._

"_How many?" asked Kimimaro._

"_Fifth-teen now but they've vanished." replied Neji._

"_Hey! Can ya help us follow those guys?" Naruto shouted to Shibuki._

"_I i if you can b but their in the village now. Promise n not to tell anyone." Shibuki was still trembling, fear was taking over him._

"_We are your allies so why distrust us?" cautiously said Sai._

"_For now…but this could be ho h hopeless… I k know what they want…w we can't stop them." the young Kage said. He was acting pitifully in Naruto's eyes, this guy had given up on himself and his people._

_What came next was unexpected yet not completely, Naruto leapt next to Shibuki and punched him across the face. As soon as a shocked Shibuki looked at him in the eyes he angrily shouted "How can you call yourself the Takikage! Stop being scared and stand up for yourself! A real Kage protects everyone, not give up or pity himself!"_

"_We'll do our best just get us in." plainly said the Kaguya somewhat amused at the blonds display of frustration. _

_Shibuki managed to compose himself but felt truly ashamed of himself, yet Naruto's words had cut deep making him think. He decided he needed to take a chance here and motioned for them to follow him through the waterfall. After going through the secret entrance they were in a cavern like complex that overlooked the entire village. One noticeable thing about this place was a giant tree surrounded by a lake in the centre of the village. They could clearly see several ninja not to mention a lot of civilians tied up, Sai noticed that man power wise this village was undermanned. This was because groups of rouge ninja had been showing up and to counter this Taki had to send out most of its shinobi leaving flaws in defence. This assault had been very cleverly planed by someone who knew the village well. They were all getting in position to drive out this threat, Naruto had stayed back so he could talk to Shibuki._

"_I'm sorry for hitting you. I just don't like it when people act like that."_

"_What do you know. My father died for this village, I can't be a hero like he was… do I look ready for this?" the young Kage was still doubtful of himself._

"_Is anyone asking you to be a hero? Even if your not ready you need to try. As for me I never give up and I don't turn my back on those precious. Don't worry we'll save your village. Just sit tight." explained Naruto as he too went off to get ready leaving just Shibuki._

_Somehow the young blonds words had affected him, as if it'd roused him giving new strength. He had realised just who that was and let out a shameful smile.'A banished shinobi is trying to save my country…the rumours are true. That person remains strong and how can I be so weak when I have not lost…there's only one thing to do now.' the more confident Kage broke from his thought as he sneakily darted off somewhere._

_The engagement had begun with the six mostly Konoha ninja and the group of raiding rouge ninja. Considering they had the advantage of numbers the attackers were able to contain them but has clearly underestimated these new opponents. One got the shock of his life when he not only received a knee to the chest from the Kaguya but also his death by a bone jutting out of the teens knee skewering his insides too. This was witnessed by Suien whom merely smirked then joined the fray isolating Sai forcing a one on one since he had told the others to back off. Naruto had managed to take his first target by surprise also managing to dispatch the enemy cleanly. Although they had the initial jump on the rouges they were starting to be pushed back resulting in Tenten receiving a heavy injury to her shoulder. Neji and Lee leapt to her aid throwing back her attackers briefly now forced into defence. As for Kimimaro he had efficiently taken down two more which, unnerved Naruto at how efficiently he was at killing. They both teamed up resulting in two more of their foes being taken down by kunai and bone stabs. The blond was still gritting his teeth but was keeping it together, they were being surrounded but this didn't worry him as much as what was happening with Sai battle with the obvious leader of this group._

_It was clear that Sai was losing to Suien, although he'd managed to pull off a few of his ink creations they were all effortlessly taken down by water element jutsu. Suien began making several hand signs causing a sword made up of water to form in his hand then grabbed onto it with the other. Sai drew his sword in response but this did little good as the water blade went right through his normal sword. He somehow avoided having his arm cut off too but received a kick to the stomach throwing him backwards. Suien charged him seeing this as soon as Sai touched the ground he back flipped into a standing battle stance. This did little good as he received several cuts and gashes from his enemies stabbing strikes luckily it wasn't too serious. Although once again he received another well placed kick to the stomach throwing him even further backward hitting the ground this time not getting back up. Suien charged him seeing he was slowly getting to his knees. To little to late or so the rouge thought._

_Ignoring a slash into his arm Naruto broke through his foes and darted towards Sai as fast as humanly possible. He made it just in time preventing a killing blow on his friend. This was because he took the blow for him, the water blade pierced the right side of the blonds chest puncturing a lung and not to mention breaking a few ribs. Suien was furious that this boy had interfered and was surprised that the boy looked him in the eyes with crimson red and slitted pupils that can't be human. Sai had frozen when he'd turned his head towards Naruto clearly seeing he had been badly injured. It had been a long time since he'd felt guilt and was shocked that someone would do that for him._

"_Why did you…"_

"_I will protect my friends with my life." determinedly replied Naruto spitting blood out of his mouth. Suien merely liquidised his sword allowing the blond to hit the ground barely breathing and clearly out of the fight. Kimimaro was trying his best to break through to aid them, he was getting more and more furious killing one of his attackers in the process. _

_Suien was about to strike Naruto but had to jump back to avoid a kick from Sai. This pale supposedly emotionless shinobi had decided to protect this friend with his life too. Time stood still briefly until the rouge shinobi that were holding back Kimimaro found themselves getting hit by a whirlwind of water cutting them to shreds completely knocking them out and probably dead when they slammed into the ground. The source of this attack was the Takikage; Shibuki._

"_I will not fear you! As leader of this village I will protect everyone precious!"_

_Those rouge shinobi left that hadn't been taken down all leapt into the air going right for Shibuki. What scared them was that the Kage made hand seals with blinding speed incautiously calling forth a water dragon that came out of the lake swallowing all of the would be attackers then diving back into the lake. Now there was only Suien whom carefully looked a Shibuki before smirking._

"_So you think you can beat your old sensei, you drank that water then."_

"_Yes I did. Now you must pay for your crimes." confidently replied the young Kage._

_They both formed water swords and began trading blows until they were in a deadlock. Suien had taught him the moves he'd used so far and presumed he hadn't improved that much._

"_I know all your moves and your open" he laughed before he ran his water sword right through Shibuki, to his shock his opponent exploded into water knocking him back. His face was that of shock as he turned around in time to see the young Kage finish a sequence of hand seals. Hold the sign of the bird Shibuki performed __**Water style: Giant Waterfall. **__An immense amount of water surged out of the lake going upwards the downwards towards Suien. The strange thing was although he couldn't he still didn't even attempt to avoid the jutsu. Suien crossed his arms and smiled acknowledging his former pupil as the water slammed into him curving back into the lake. When the jutsu had finished he was floating face first in the lake. Shibuki walked towards his foe, his former teacher and could already tell this battle was over._

_A day later and the events of this incursion had changed a lot of things To everyone that had witnessed Shibuki's stand they knew that this was how a true Kage fights, as long as he believed in himself anything was possible. To think less than two days ago he was scared of many things yet now he was courageous willing to do anything to help. As for Naruto well he was hospitalised due the sever injury he'd got yet to the medic ninja's surprise his wound had closed up thanks to a night sleep. That sort of healing rate should be impossible in medical terms. As for the others they didn't really leave Naruto especially Sai whom had forgone sleep that night. The blond had just about regained consciousness although unable to sit up before Shibuki entered closely followed by Raijo. The Takikage looked at all six of them and smiled_

"_I owe you for saving the village, if it weren't for you then things would've turned out badly."_

"_It was nothing we are allies." simply said the Hyuga._

"_Naruto thank you. Despite your predicament you held strong and helped a great deal." the Kage said with heartfelt expression, even giving a bow._

_Kimimaro picked up on one of the words that had been used "What do you mean 'predicament'?"_

"_Rumours have been going around about how a shinobi of Konoha was banished for a pathetic reason. Disgraced by his country, the description of that person matches you." informed Raijo._

"_That information proves there is descent within Konoha about this." added Sai._

"_Maybe that is how these rumours began. Naruto I saw the spirit and courage you fought with, even with everything you must've gone through. I felt ashamed for hiding in fear but now thanks to you I have found strength and new friends." Shibuki grinned very happy and thankful that he'd met all of them._

"_No problem, I'm glad to have a new friend." happily responded Naruto now smiling at the gesture._

"_As long as those three don't appear in the report. Everything considered." informed Neji, technically Naruto, Sai and Kimimaro shouldn't even be here. _

_Shibuki was quick to nod in agreement and just before he was about to leave mentioned "If you need anything else just ask, it's the least we can do."_

_Unknown Location_

_In chamber like room stood Danzo in the middle one of his root ninja was kneeling in respect with three others suddenly appearing behind him also kneeling. The old man was unresponsive to their arrival, he threw a scroll at the one in front which, was caught with ease._

"_There may be time left but it is necessary." _

"_What is your orders sir." the root ninja asked._

"_You know what must be done." was the blunt response he got._

"_Yes my lord." all of them replied in unison as they disappeared off to do this mission._

_**Things change sometimes we need someone to help us and show us the way. Next time… what is Danzo up to? And how does Sai fit into this new 'mission'?**_


	14. Chapter 14

This took a while to do but… Sai's mission is revealed yet not in the way it was meant to be. How will this effect everyone and will it change everything, will our group of companions be able to survive this?

**Disclaimer: I like clouds but don't own one just like I don't own Naruto**

**Chapter 14: Betrayal**

A week had passed since the events at Taki. Naruto was fully healed now which, amazed those that didn't know him. Kimimaro to name one was relived that the boy was ok and was able to relax a little while they remained in the hidden village. After gathering extra supplies and repairing clothing the three of them basically left when Gai came back. They parted ways with squad ten about three days ago heading along the Konoha boarder so that they avoided any patrols. Sai had begun acting stranger in fact he only spoke when someone spoke to him. He remembered the sacrifice Naruto made for him, it brought up bad memories of how his brother died. They had entered a rather sparse wooded area, Sai had remained quiet and was starting to worry the other two. Naruto had taken the lead while Kimimaro swayed towards Sai.

"You've been quieter than usual these past few days."

"I just… back in the fight with the rouge ninja he nearly died for me. Only one other has done that for me but he wasn't so lucky. Just give me some time to think."

They couldn't speak any further since a certain blond shouted back to them. "Come on! Keep up!"

"Again you forgot to say where?" interrupted Kimimaro causing them to all slow down briefly.

"Oops, Wave Country I know a few people there." Naruto smiled at the memory of the people he knew there.

"Then we're going the wrong way." sighed the albino.

"Oh great where are we?"

"Otogakure boarder. We need to turn around then I need to give you a geography lesson."

"Very funny." Naruto jokily crossed his arms in a huff before turning around and going the other 'correct' way.

'This is getting risky I'm not sure I can do this mission anymore. I have plenty of time yet I think Lord Danzo is probably getting impatient now.' Sai mused to himself, for once he was questioning his orders but had no idea what to do.

After a while a magpie was flying above them causing Sai to mentally curse, he saw it fly behind them and stopped causing the others to do the same. There was concern on his face yet he was trying not to show it.

"Wait here! I need to check something out."

He sped off in the direction they had had their backs to, there was a moment of confused silence. Kimimaro had a feeling there was always something else Sai had been hiding and quite possibly this could be what it is. But he saw the look the guy was giving, what has got Sai so wound up? The older teen noticed Naruto was still a little confused so he explained. "There was fear in his eyes."

"I saw it too well we can't let him do whatever this is on his own." said the boy as he went off in pursuit closely followed by Kimimaro although it would appear this could take a while since Sai had gone off the main dirt path.

Sai came to a stop when he entered a change of scenery, a river flowed nearby surrounded by long grass and a field of lush foliage. Although scenery didn't interest him since he could clearly see four shinobi wearing Anbu like masks and clothing, the only difference was that the clothing was a dark blue version. He knew who they were; Root's assassination squad, Forth class strong enough to pose a very big problem. One began walking forwards obviously the captain of the group wearing simply a white mask, he came to a stop then the others did the same. A kunai whizzed passed Sai's face cutting his cheek. "What is the meaning of this?"

"You failed." deadpanned the bear masked root ninja.

"There is still time." cautiously responded the young teen.

"Surrender the demon." said one of the root ninjas which, wore a lion designed mask. There was a brief pause, then several kunai from three different angles flew towards Sai. He double back flipped avoiding the projectiles it confirmed what he had thought.

"You were going to kill me anyway even if the mission was a success."

"Because you've had less reign you were to be executed on your return but this is better." emotionlessly said the captain, it was true Danzo was personally going to kill Sai on his return but that wasn't going to happen now.

"No emotion really does turn us into monsters. Fine I'm glad I failed now." after Sai had said this more kunai flew at him, he managed to dodge most of them but a couple managed to strike him in the right thigh.

"Then you are traitor." was all the captain wished to say as he took the lead in attacking the ex-root 'traitor'. This was a bad situation they had him on numbers and even if their not the best they were still skilled. Each of the four drew their short swords engaging their target. Sai parried the captain but had to break of quickly since the other three took swipe at him. He was now a little off balance though and the captain seeing his opportunity stabbed him through the right side of the chest. The other three were about to finish him off when the bear masked Root ninja was struck with flying bone shrapnel causing him to hit the ground dead, the other two were knocked back by a large gale of wind. The captain seeing this pulled his sword out and jumped backwards.

"You can't even wait for five minutes." an frustrated yet also slightly relived Sai said when he looked behind him seeing Naruto and Kimimaro.

"This isn't the time for your sarcasm. You have a lot of explaining to do after this." was all the Kaguya could say on this as he prepared for combat.

"These guys want a piece of us then lets do this." added Naruto also getting ready to fight there were now three on each side and the real battle was about to begin. The Root ninja threw smoke bombs in unison making them vanish from sight, their targets went into full alert. Several bombs rolled out of the smoke towards the three causing them to jump backwards, the bombs exploded into a large amount of smoke now covering everyone in that area. Sai, Naruto and Kimimaro could still see each other but that wasn't going to last. Just then a jolt of lightening crashed in-between them throwing them away from each other. Naruto flew out of the smoke landing just next to the river and quickly got to his feet when he saw the lion masked Root Anbu going for him. Sai was knocked back into the wooded area smacking into a tree breaking a few ribs in the process, he got to his feet and parried a sword strike. Kimimaro was still inside the large smokescreen somehow stopping himself being thrown too far, he felt a presence in time to dodge another lightening jolt before darting towards the source of the attack. These Root Anbu had been clever separating their enemies so it would now come down to one on one combat.

Sai had to do battle with the captain and was about to strike when he noticed the captains unique battle stance; his left arm was behind his back while the right arm holding the sword was above his head. He hesitated as he remembered that day his brother died protecting him.

"That stance…! You killed him!" furiously shouted Sai which, was echoed and heard by everyone despite how far away they all were.

"He was also a traitor but thanks to you getting in the way he was easier to take down." as soon as the captain had finished he charged forwards.

Kimimaro ignored the sudden raised voice and took note his foe had stopped which, made it harder to located the enemy in this damn smoke. He narrowed his eyes when he saw a bright light in front of him and saw it had begun circling him. A dragon formed of lightening got closer and closer until he could see it surrounding him with its body. Before it could make contact he leapt into the air as, the element dragon followed him and side swiped the teen causing him to hit the ground hard. The lightening creature came plummeting to the ground towards its target. Luckily Kimimaro saw this and dodged it in time, the creature slammed into the ground exploding in a current of lightening. That was too close for comfort, this had proved one thing though the enemy was a ranged fighter and in this smoke he had the advantage since that lighting jutsu could home in on its intended target. To add insult to injury this smoke wouldn't dissipate for a while. Another focused bolt of lightning came towards him but managed to avoid it at least now he had an idea where his foe was. Charging forward darting side to side just in case he was gaining ground on the source of that last attack. The enemy let him do this and a hail of kunai sped towards him. The root ninja had moved away from where he was self assured that this unexpected enemy didn't know where he was. How wrong he was about to be as Kimimaro was flying through the air towards him thrusting his foot forward in preparation to kick him. How did he find the Root ninja, well he may not be proud of it now but was a Sound ninja which, means good hearing among other things. The root ninja managed to get of a lightening jutsu but not good enough as it was tiny in comparison to the lightning. Sure it struck its target but Kimimaro barely flinches as he flew through the air and slammed his foot into the enemies chest. He didn't stop there as bones came out of his foot and leg skewering the unfortunate Root ninja. That taijutsu kick was reminiscent of the dynamic entry he'd been hit with a while back but altered for a Kaguya style finish. One thing was for sure his foe was never getting up again, now all he had to do was focus on which direction the others were through this damn smoke.

Meanwhile Sai was managing to hold on against the Root captain although it was clear who was going to win be it sooner or later. The so called 'traitor' could see that his foe was clearly of Jonin rank which, may have been the norm for a squad like this but was also very bad. Sai was good but not that good so far he had gotten away with a few cuts and had managed to hide inside a hollow tree temporarily. His foe was clearly a close range fighter while he was more the mid to long range type that was exactly the problem he couldn't get a single jutsu off when he was constantly clashing swords or fists. Now he had some time to draw several creations a she finished the captain had found him and threw an explosive kunai onto the hollowed tree causing it to explode. Sai managed to avoid getting blown up via substitution he managed to get some distance and saw the captain heading right for him. Now he finally got a jutsu off **False Mimicry: Kitsune Trickery** and out burst one oversized fox at least four times bigger than its user. The root ninja halted in his tracks and took a leap backwards making hand seals as he did. The captain finished with the sign of the tiger and spat out a fireball as the ink fox attacked. It hit its target dead on but as soon as it did the false animal busted into nine more normal sized foxes. He made more hand seals and released four fireballs which, made it to its targets reducing the ink creatures down to five. The captain saw that the distance had been closed and avoided being bitten or clawed by leaping upwards onto the top of the tree. The creatures followed but he expected this and imbedded two explosive kunai into the tree. He jumped of the tree as the explosion ignited causing the top of the tree to get obliterated. One of the foxes was taken down and the remaining four scattered, the captain decided to take these creatures down then go for his primary target. He went through a series of hand seal ending with the sign of the tiger he breathed out **Fire Element: Dragon Flame**. A dragon made of fire surged towards the foxes engulfing them all one by one and then it made its way towards Sai, he managed to release a lion but that didn't last against the dragon as it was eaten in a sea of flame. Sai leapt out of the way and saw the trees behind him burned to a crisp as the jutsu ended. He didn't have time to react further as several more explosive kunai landed in front of him. They ignited knocking him backwards but managed to land quickly although hid starting to feel his injuries more now. As soon a he'd landed he noticed that the captain was gone. Then he cursed, Naruto was the primary target of course why didn't he see that. Forgetting about any of the pain he was in he pursed with all he had to prevent his comrade from being killed.

Naruto was getting a little frustrated at the speed of his opponent he had been stuck on the defensive and it was starting to get to him. Sure he'd outlast him cause of the crazy stamina he's got but still if your on the defensive to much then something goanna give sooner or later. It was goanna be sooner since the Root captain had appeared but unnoticed by the blond. He was shoved back by the lion masked enemy and the captain was now right behind him and was about to bring a downward slash upon him. Sai though it should be impossible if you account for those broken ribs had not only caught up but had managed to get in the way. He was repaid by receiving a horrendous slash across his chest before halting a second slash with a kunai. Naruto had an idea of what was going on but still what just happened?

"I'm returning the favour." simply said Sai before collapsing to his knees, the captain was going to take advantage of this but had to back off when he saw the blonds change of appearance not to mention an air of malice coming off him.

"**The strength is returning!" **a voice inside Naruto spoke.

'Stay out of this!' he replied to the fox while looking on with crimson red eyes prepared to kill… no slaughter them.

"**You called for my power not the other way around." **the Kyuubi grinned it had been a while since he could get contact again and now he would see the slaughter that amused him. The Lion masked ninja attacked the blond managing to force him away from Sai whom could not get to his feet at the moment. The captain could see that he was going to complete his mission now, even with the loss of almost all his squad he did not care only the mission mattered. Just as he was about to finish Sai off he was pushed back by a back kick from Kimimaro whom had managed to locate them with perfect timing you could say. His arrival saw him taking charge of the battle with the captain while Naruto had to take on the other Root ninja.

The Jinchuriki had a clear advantage now his 'Kyuubified' self had come into play, he had this guy on speed and strength. Although the boy had learnt to be more careful he wasn't going to charge in like he used. To emphasise this he made seven shadow clones and sent them out to attack, it was a bit unnerving since the Root ninja took out the first three effortlessly with well placed sword strikes, two more quickly followed. But Naruto noticed that the other two managed to not only get behind him but both land blows just before getting taken out. He quickly thought of something then decided to implement it. Again he made seven clones and sent them out then made one more which, held back next to him. A similar process followed in the Root ninjas moves but this time he was ready for the two clones striking him from behind. This was all Naruto needed as while the clones had been attacking he had formed the Rasengan in his hand, the enemy managed to turn around in time to see his end as the spiral sphere ball of chakra was slammed into his chest. The root ninja's chest looked like it imploded on contact but then it slightly exploded in blood covering the blonds arm in the crimson liquid. Oh Naruto couldn't hear the demon fox but the creature was laughing at the display of blood. The Kyuubi was still annoyed though since he could feel his power receding again, he was still feeling the effects of that encounter with that damn seal guarding piece of meat.

The battle with the captain was starting to wind down his battle with Sai and then the arrival of Kimimaro was starting to exhaust him. Yet even if he was to die he was going to try at least one of his targets with him such was what was expected of soldiers like him. He managed to get some distance from Kimimaro and released another ball of fire towards his foe. Seeing that he had gained some time he instantly saw Sai and charged. Sai tried to get to his feet but was to badly injured he accepted his fate and closed his eyes. But the end never came as Naruto had come out of nowhere and slammed a bloody fist into the captains stomach. The last remaining Root ninja had the wind knocked out of him but managed to get away from receiving another strike from the new addition to his fight. Naruto's eyes were no longer crimson but were ice cold, if looks could kill this guy would be dead in the blink of an eye. He attacked putting the captain on the defensive immediately due to the ferocity of his opponent. Kimimaro took advantage of this and made his arm into a bone pike and quickly stabbed the guy through the chest from behind making a bloody mess. Naruto was still pissed and slammed his fist into the guys mask making it crack in the process. They both allowed him to hit the ground and were about to walk away when the captain jerked and tried to get up but his body was failing him.

"Still alive? Not for long." Naruto was fully prepared to kill this guy but stopped since Sai had gotten to his feet.

"Hold! This one's mine." shouted Sai, he limped forwards noticing that the captain was trying to crawl away. Pulling out a kunai he stabbed the captain killing him. Sai let out a sorrowful smile "For my brother."

He then fell backwards but was caught by Naruto whom sat him against a tree. Kimimaro walked towards him looking like he was demanding an explanation.

"You may as well kill me I'm dead either way." remarked the ex-root ninja.

Kimimaro was about to oblige when Naruto threw his arm out shouting "Wait! I want to know what you were up to."

"Very well. I was sent on a mission by the man who instigated your banishment. His name was Danzo…" Sai paused.

"We're not going to get anything else out of him, there is a seal that prevents him speaking further." one of the very few benefits of serving that snake was that he knew many things especially concerning Root.

Sai shook his head before continuing "…On the contrary you need to be older to receive it. My mission was to locate the Kyuubi vessel and utilize him to find Uchiha Sasuke." he paused again feeling like he was going to pass out, he noticed they were waiting for him to continue "When I did I was to kill you both. Yet when I did have the opportunity I couldn't do it. You Naruto… I see the will of the one I called brother in you and my emotions came back because of that memory."

There was an awkward pause before Sai simply said "Danzo won't stand for me now, I'm a dead man so kill me."

"You think your life is that worthless! He used you made you believe your worthless. But to me you are my friend no matter what, someone who is precious." shouted Naruto in response, he was going to let this friend go.

"Precious… thank you Naruto, Kimimaro I understand. Do what you must."

Sai allowed himself to relax letting the soothing darkness of unconsciousness to claim him. Kimimaro glanced over at the blond and sighed before picking up the black haired teen and slinging him over his shoulder. He began to walk closely followed by his friend.

'**Your pathetic trusting someone like that' **roared the Kyubi but his voice to Naruto sounded like a whisper. He basically ignored the fox.

"However, you try to sugar coat it. He is still part of Root and was meant to kill you." a now very cautious Kimimaro said.

"I believe what he said about changing. If he was going to kill me he would've done it by now. They used him and killed his brother for goodness sake you really think he's going to go back to those guys now?" passionately snapped back the blond.

"Still he lied from the get go and betrayed you." Kimimaro tried to remain the voice of reason but he knew he wasn't going to win this argument. The kid was right about Sai not killing him and he definitely saw that the ex-root ninja save Naruto's life just before he entered that part of the fight.

"I think he wasn't always lying come on you've seen the change." Naruto somewhat quietly said.

"Fine I'll accept that. We need to get him medical aid I know a place not too far from here." the Kaguya still had his doubts but Sai was stuck with them now. It would be a while though until he fully trusted him again. Yet knowing Naruto's way with 'words' and actions it probably won't be that long. For now he had to get Sai medical help luckily he knew where they were and that a certain resistance group was nearby.

Sasuke's Location three days later

News of combat had reached Orochimaru and decided to send Sasuke along with other to check it out. The first report said that the small battle had been very bloody which, is why he sent the boy. This squad he was in was basically body collection this meant that Karin was with him too although he reckoned it was more than chance that she was here. As they made it to the battle field they could see that the bodies were scattered from each other. One of the unnamed ninjas took a quick glance "A battle happened here."

"Really. I didn't notice." sarcastically replied Sasuke, he felt these guys were idiots.

"Shut it boy."

The Uchiha just smirked before going over to where two bodies were closest to each other. It was obvious the dead were Konoha shinobi and it was indicated by Karin that the one responsible were long gone. Aside from Karin not staying away from him there wasn't that much interest in this. Although he focused a little more then frowned at the wound on one of the bodies. The wound was a bloody spiral around the chest, the red head saw the look he was making and gave a similar confused look.

"That wound is not normal." he explained.

"His chest has been torn to shreds in a spiral pattern…it obviously killed him outright." analysed Karin.

The bodies where sealed by the other two shinobi and began heading back, Sasuke was lost though 'I wonder if it's you again. You've got help these guys look like Anbu and there's no way you can take them on your own. Your getting strong but I will be stronger."

**I'm so sad I've actually got a badly self drawn map of the ninja world to help me when writing… Anyway next time…it's a mystery all but to me? Lets just say things are about to take another drastic turn.**


	15. Chapter 15

Time skip time! But only half a year… We find out what they've been up to and a new adventure is about begin.

**Disclaimer: Naruto is better than Bleach in my opinion. But I don't own either.**

I'm still doing this clothing note reminder/changes thing

Sasuke - Shippuden clothing minus that big rope tied round his waist.

Karin - Shippuden clothing

Suigetso - currently light brown vest and shorts.

Naruto - Thin white coat with whirlpool design on back, dark orange shirt, black combat pants and black ninja boots.

Kimimaro - white robe with crimson outline, light grey combat pants and black ninja boots

Sai - Shippuden clothing but wears a dark blue coat with a short sleeve on its left, which he acquired in wave.

Everyone else - standard pre-shippuden clothing.

**Chapter 15 : Waves of Change**

It had been a long six months for everyone especially for Naruto and co. After their encounter with the Anbu Root assassination squad Sai was taken to one the resistance groups against Oto which, was known for it medics. Although this nearly caused another fight when they saw Kimimaro but whatever he said or passed on worked since they patched up Sai enough to continue to wave country. They had expected some more of those hit squads but no more had come, maybe a certain Hokage had found out about that attempt. When Sai was able to move properly he kept his distance more from Kimimaro but also Naruto. He was depressed and ashamed, two emotions he hadn't read about but Naruto had managed to pull him out of it. And after about two months of subtle bonding and helping the locals out with building projects Naruto was glad he'd managed to pull them back together. Even now though Kimimaro was still cautious but accepted what was happening, when a certain blond is set on something he can't argue against him. He could see that Sai was trying his best to prove himself as a friend that was good enough for him. They had learnt quite a few things from each other Sai gave a more detailed explanation of his brother and how his personality matched that of Naruto's. Kimimaro told them of his childhood it was pretty sad but they understood why he had served Orochimaru, it was company it was freedom or so he thought. The young Jinchuriki only told them a bit of his past, the part about when he became a shinobi up to the banishment, it was clear that anything before that he was sore about. Speaking of which he now knew who was behind all that happened to him; Danzo he was never going to forgive him for what he's done. That man had torn him away from the place he was born the place he loved and friends he cared for. But he kept this want for revenge to himself for personal reasons that he'd rather not share.

Uchiha Sasuke. It had been a unique time for him, he was now effective with the Kusanagi and had been gifted with the snake summoning scroll. His 'master' though had warned him not to call on the snakes just yet since they were unsure of their new summoner. As for the Chidori blade it was mastered which, amused Orochimaru he had decided to make sure Sasuke saw as much bloodshed as possible by sending him out on clean up mission or corpse recovery mission with either Karin or Kabuto. Although the Uchiha had shown some resistance and disapproval with some of the mission, it would seem he had a degree of morals since he only wished to kill those that deserve it. This amused his 'lord' greatly and decided to allow it since those morals of his wouldn't matter for too long.

Sasuke had recently requested to have Suigetsu as a bodyguard of sorts, this made Kabuto suspicious and voiced his concern to Orochimaru with permission to speak freely of course… unless he likes concussion. Today the raven haired teen was heading towards a rather familiar research facility along with two squads worth of escorts, this made him assume they were watching his actions carefully probably because of Kabuto. They all came to a river and on the other side was rocky outcrop, the group of Oto shinobi stopped.

"From here your on your own brat. Just go inside we're off." the Oto captain was clearly annoyed that he had to baby-sit this kid and was glad this waste of time was over.

Sasuke went inside the research base and walked down a long tunnel until he was met by Karin. She motioned him to follow going along a complex of tunnels until they reached a wall made of thick glass. He focused a little and could see a very shark like grin coming from one of the corners, the figure with the grin stood up and made his way in front of the glass

"Its been a while Suigetsu." politely yet mockingly said the Uchiha.

"Glad ya remembered my name ya homo." it was clear the 'test subject' wasn't in the mood to see that guy.

"Don't be rude!" snapped Karin.

Suigetsu bared his teeth clearly pissed off "You got lucky, Sasuke."

"You were just weak and full of it." was all Sasuke said back.

"Don't start, you know what I can do." Karin obviously didn't think what she just said through.

"Haha its only this glass that stops ya touching this." sleazily said Suigetsu patting his chest.

"Oh shut up, c.. come on Sasuke." she was blushing a little before quickly walking off. The Uchiha smirked a little before following her into the room next to the one Suigetsu was contained in. This made the white haired teen give a very toothy grin since he knew what Karin was like when it concerned new prey he could only assume what she was up to with that guy.

Obviously Suigetsu's mind can boarder either the deranged or just plain sleazy, what he thought could be going clearly wasn't happening. In the room next to his Karin crossed her arm clearly annoyed by the insinuations that were made. But she managed to compose herself since there were other things to do.

"I don't know why you want this guy to protect you."

"So I got my request." simply said Sasuke

"Yeah but he will be watched to start with probably by our favourite sadist."

"Kabuto? He's getting on my nerves he doesn't trust anyone."

"That sounds like him, even if you tried anything stupid you wouldn't last."

"Hn…Lets just get on with this." he knew what Karin was implying, at the moment no he wouldn't stand a chance against the Snake Sannin but in future…

"You may have to bash Suigetsu's head against a rock so he knows your partners." was all Karin said before leaving to make preparations for Sasuke's new 'partner' to be released into his custody.

Wave Country

Naruto was walking across a big bridge with a grin on his face, he loved it here everyone accepted him everyone acknowledged him. It was easy for all three of them to keep a low profile here since the people of wave didn't agree with the banishment and sure wouldn't give them up to Konoha. On the other end of the bridge Sai was reading the plaque which, had the name of the bridge. All he knew on this was from what the villagers had said; hope was brought when there was none. Hope what a curious word yet he knew he'd been given it thanks to the same person the bridge was named after. He turned his head around and saw that person giving a nod as to say hello. Sai reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a smallish book.

It was Naruto and he was curious now upon seeing the book "You still read those books?"

"Not entirely, I managed to get hold of a Konoha bingo book."

"And…?"

"Both of us are officially missing ninja according to the book it happened a month ago." he opened the book and showed the page which had them both on.

"Only B rank? Guess I should thank Granny Tsunade for that." Naruto was relived that his rank was at standard level for rogues.

"After what we did six months ago its no surprise. Even if they are Root." said Sai in a matter of fact way.

"I was hoping we'd get away with that so much for lying low." he sighed, this was bad it also made him aware that any chance of going back to Konoha was unlikely now. They walked on Naruto was reading through the bingo book and decided to go off to one of his usual spots.

A few hours later and Kimimaro was sitting on a roof with a bunch of aged roofers, it had taken a while but between these worker and shinobi help a new house had been built. Speaking of shinobi the albino was a bit miffed that only he'd shown up to finish of the job today. He picked up a glass of milk finishing it before waving goodbye and going off to find the other two, though he had an idea where they were. As he walked past an arts and craft shop he remembered that time Sai tried giving them art lessons with a humorous outcome since Naruto drew stickmen while he apparently did an abstract house. He smiled at that memory, sure his new friends were weird but he was glad he had them although he still hadn't really forgotten the ex-root ninjas past indiscretion there was enough trust to know he wouldn't do it again. It also made him wonder how much longer they will be here for.

Konohagakure

Tsunade the Hokage was frustrated she was sitting in a room looking at the painting of the Kages that came before her, this didn't calm her. She couldn't do a thing about Naruto becoming rogue although knew full well if what he did was true it was out of self defence. She also knew who was behind it but with no proof did have a leg to stand on. What a maddening month it had been. Tsunade was waiting for someone whom arrived right on time.

"I don't know how he did it but the kids done a disappearing act." said the Toad Sannin Jiraiya whom appeared before her.

"Its probably for the best at the moment, he needs to lie low for now."

"Their still pressing for a higher rank." said the aged man, it was clear he was very unhappy with current events.

"A big headache most of the shinobi side of the council are at the throats of the civilian side over this. The civvies would want him to be hunted down if they got their way."

That was the thing a bulk of the shinobi side of the council were against the banishment and the rouge status of Naruto. They used common sense but the issue was that almost all the civilian side of the council and some of the shinobi side were for it. That's the funny thing about democracy; majority reigns even if what they want clearly isn't right. The shinobi that were against it knew that this could come back to haunt them, Naruto after all was the Kyuubi vessel and who knows what mindset he was in now.

"The council never had this sort of power yet there's not much we can do about it now."

"I didn't become Hokage to deal with this crap." she sighed then paused now smiling

"One other thing." said Jiraiya knowing why she was smiling, he smoothly swayed towards the door opening it. Sakura was on the other end and nearly fell in but managed to hold her footing.

"Apologies Lady Tsunade. I'll excuse myself." the pink haired kunoichi knew she was in a lot of trouble now and wanted to leave quickly.

"Stay a second. I know you heard us but what will you do knowing this?" baited Tsunade, she was testing her.

"I…I won't give up! He wouldn't want me to." responded Sakura taken a little off guard by the sudden question but her resolve was unshaken. This made Tsunade nod obviously glad to hear such wilfulness.

"Good go to your duties. Don't let me catch you eavesdropping again."

Sakura quickly left, she'd somehow gotten away with it. She swore to herself that even if this has happened she wouldn't give up, how could she face them if she did.

"You sure know how to pick them. I sort of see why." said Jiraiya as soon as he knew the 'unexpected' guest had left.

"She has a reason to go on even if their both rouge now, Sakura promised herself to bring them back. That is why she is my apprentice." simply explained Tsunade.

"It seems he made a very big impression on her, its good to see she picked herself back up."

Tsunade frowned not wanting to discuss this further she changed the conversation. "We're getting away from the conversation, we have to be careful now it wouldn't look good if they knew what we were up to."

Wave Country

In a somewhat open area there was a calm river that formed into a wild waterfall then reformed into the former. In the middle of the waterfall was a certain blond haired teen standing on a rock that jutted out of the centre. On closer observation you could see it was Naruto, Sai was nearby sitting on a patch of grass drawing something. The young blond pushed his arms into the waterfall and focused showing clear unwavering determination. The waterfall was cleaning cut in two as the bottom half came crashing down, a second after the top half joined it and returned to how it normally was. Naruto threw his arms up into the air in triumph with a very overjoyed smile. He noticed someone else was watching him and jumped downwards onto solid ground. It was Kimimaro and he looked a bit irritated yet not that bother at the same time.

"I could've done with your help earlier, it was your mess."

"Sorry I got lost on the road of life." lazily said Naruto as he put his coat on.

"Where do you get these lame excuses from… if its not a black cat crossing your path then its helping old ladies carry their shopping. How many cats and old people are there here?" he managed to joke yet sigh at the same time.

"Tones of them. Besides I've been training as well." Naruto made a muscle man pose to emphasize his point.

"I see it looks like you can do it properly now." the albino nodded.

"Anyway I've got to meet a couple of guys so see ya later." he then vanished before them in a flicker of wind and smoke. What he'd just said was something he did every week. Kimimaro and Sai knew where he was going, they also knew to leave him to it. After all that wasn't one of their memories.

"Oh by the way I found this orange book, I think someone lost it." Sai showed the weird book and the next thing he knew it vanished from his hand. He saw Kimimaro neatly tuck it inside his robe. "Yours then…what kind of book is it?"

"A special book… erm suns setting time to head back." awkwardly said Kimimaro, he was not discussing this book with anyone especially Sai.

A day had passed it was now morning at a flat which, was the temporary residence of Naruto and co they were immediately woken up by a notable amount of noise outside. Naruto was first up and heard a knock at the door. He slowly opened it an saw it was a frantic Inari.

"."

"Whoa slow down one word at a time." a now alert Naruto said, unable to even guess what Inari was on about.

"Had to happen sometime." somehow Sai had understood what the young boy had said.

"Did you get a look at the shinobi which, village?" asked Kimimaro whom had appeared next to the door holding a glass of milk.

"I don't know!" squeaked Inari.

"Calm down what do they look like?" questioned Naruto feeling a little on edge now.

"Two of them look really weird." Inari couldn't remember and was still panicking.

"Lets go investigate… after I've finished my milk." said Kimimaro whom then downed it in one.

The mysterious yet 'diverse' squad of shinobi were walking across the marketplace a little unnerved by the amount of stares they got from the locals. They made their way into a less crowded zone and into a nearby restaurant. The owner of this establishment was a little creeped out since two of them wore spandex, yes that's right it was the green beast of Konoha himself Might Gai along with his youthful team. They all sat around a table in the corner, Tenten leaned on the table before breathing a sigh a relief.

"This feels creepy with all the stares we're getting."

"The rumours could be true." Lee mused out loud.

"I doubt he's here, Konoha's become less popular in certain areas lately." added Neji.

Gai scratched his chin "Anyway our mission is tomorrow so go relax."

"I think I'll stay here for a while." said Tenten, she was feeling very uncomfortable with the locals looking at them all like that.

A distance away from the restaurant, Naruto and company where peaking over on of the roofs. They saw Neji walking out of the building and they all ducked since the Hyuga had looked in their direction.

"Might Gai and his team." whispered Naruto

Sai tilted his head towards Kimimaro "Oh the one that kicked you."

"Thanks for bringing that up. Wonder why their here." the albino asked to no one in particular.

"I have a bad feeling about this." again Naruto whispered now feeling anxious. They jumped down into an alleyway and began to head back to their temporary 'base'. But just as they came out of the alley Neji appeared right in front of them prompting the three to stop, knowing he had their attention the new arrival sarcastically remarked "All seeing, sound familiar?"

"Are you here for us, is there anyone coming for us?" Naruto was a little frantic

"The Hokage's diverting resources elsewhere and she heard of what happened six months ago and is looking into it."

"Why am I in the bingo book?" hastily asked the blond.

"Civilian council majority." simply said the Hyuga.

"Politics… are you here just to say hello?" carefully asked Kimimaro.

Neji paused for a second before looking Naruto in the eyes "The raven has descended."

"Aw crap, so much for that hope." sighed Naruto then he paused realising that his friends where looking at him making him a little more on edge.

Neji on the other hand was oblivious and continued "You have one week, the one concerned is aware."

"This sounds like a rescue." assumed Kimimaro.

"I must go now, I owe you one." said Neji before leaving with all due haste back to his squad. Naruto gritted his teeth thinking for a second but broke from all thought since he knew his two friends were still looking at him. He'd hoped this'd never happen and now that it had well…

"Erm ok I can explain, ya see I made a promise…"

Sasuke's location

About a mile away from the cavern base in a desolate plane, Suigetsu had made it clear he wasn't happy by challenging then fighting Sasuke. The fight had been short but not so sweet, the 'prisoner' had literally been knocked on his arse and was cursing heavily. Uchiha Sasuke merely walked forwards then stopped in front of him outstretching his arm as if to make an offer.

"Yeah so what you won. Hardy haha wanker." scorned Suigetsu, he was annoyed he'd been beaten like this.

"This is pointless. Why not join me?"

"I don't like serving snakes, piss off." Suigetsu batted his hand away.

"Let me repeat myself… why not join me?" he emphasised the last word then outstretched his arm again waiting for a response.

"Ah that might work out Uchiha, sounds like risky fun."

"Without risk we do not get strong."

"Spare me the speech. I'll shake on it anyway 'partner'." he grabbed Sasuke's hand while getting to his feet. He knew this was goanna be fun.

"Good, lets go." Sasuke broke from the handshake and began to head back to where his 'lord' was.

**And relax. What's going on? Maybe some know but I'll let you find out next time. You'll have to wait for the next round of chapters but it'll be worth it(I hope).**


	16. Chapter 16

I did say i'd have to slow down whenever i finish a chapter it'll be put up.

Everything is revealed and Naruto heads out on a personal mission. What does it hold for them and what exactly does the Hyuga clan have to do with it? Will things go as planned, or are their fates sealed?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… what did you expect me to say more?**

Clothing note Naruto, Kimimaro and Sai have the light brown cloaks on with the hoods up obviously to hide their identity.

**Chapter 16 : Best Laid Plans…**

Uchiha Sasuke was walking in an open barren plain, he had accomplished the first part of what he wanted. Close behind Suigetso was walking with a standard broadsword on his back which, he'd picked up from a deceased bandit on their way back he was still wearing the same 'experiment' clothing which, annoyed him since it was itchy. He suddenly began smirking, his fingers twitched and quickly swung his sword of his back. As he was about to lay the blow it seemed like Sasuke smiled. He cleaved his sword through the Uchiha but was annoyed when he saw a split rock in his targets place. Suigetso turned his head and saw Sasuke standing behind him of whom had now placed his hand on Suigetso's shoulder.

"Must we do thing again?"

"Heh, worth a shot." the shark teethed boy remarked still smirking.

"Don't make me kill you." said Sasuke as a small current of blue lightning ran up his arms.

"Fine. Just testing ya"

The Uchiha removed his arm and began walking once more but made his point clear as day "Next time you 'test' me I'll split you in two."

Just outside Konoha two days later

It was now midday, Naruto and co had barely stopped until Konohagakure was in sight. This made Kimimaro wonder what was so special about this person that drove Naruto, he'd never mentioned this one their rescuing before yet this kind of determination rivalled the one he had for finding Sasuke. They had come to a stop just within a pocket of trees behind a hill. Kimimaro was scouting the area to be safe and returned letting them know the area was clear. It was quiet like a calm before the storm.

Inside Konoha within the House of Hyuga a scream could be heard, Neji had returned and tried bursting into the estate as if he was going to kill someone. Gai and Lee had to restrain him for his own good, he calmed down but you could see the rage and hate in his eyes. He pushed those that had held him away before leaving the area, just as he had done this Hiashi walked outside and saw his nephew storming off. The Hyuga main branch member clearly was in despair it was as if it'd been writ on his face. Gai did not say anything but from his posture you could tell he was not happy with the current situation. Hiashi ignored him and walked off in the opposite direction, all he could think was if it was now too late, is there anything that can be done?

Several hours had now passed, darkness was beginning to come yet it was still too bright for the three shinobi outside Konoha to even consider approaching. They remained in the area they had been since it was clear no one patrolled this patch. However, they were ready to move out when the time came. Sai peaked over the hill as stealthily as possible then stated the obvious "Still to bright any closer and the guards will spot us."

"Yeah, if we get seen now we're screwed." added Naruto.

"Should we really be risking it like this." Sai was a bit concerned since they were going back into Konoha, they are rogue after all.

"Aw come on we're rescuing a friend of mine. I 'm not backing down from this promise." added Naruto almost punching his fist in the air but kept it low.

"Besides that raven seal sounds worse than the curse seal. That is not something someone should suffer." further added Kimimaro

"Fine, lets go over the plan one last time before nightfall." simply replied Sai.

"Very well we infiltrate through that entrance you know of. Meet up with you know who get in and out of the estate with the target. Then make for the Oto boarder and then into Kumo. If all goes well this'll all be over before daybreak." briefly explained Kimimaro.

"Why can't we just go to Kumo its quicker?" asked the blond.

"Geography. Oto is closer it would take two days to get to Kumo which, is too risky. If we head right there we risk causing a major incident if we're seen." explained Kimimaro

"Politics again?" sighed Naruto.

"Aside from that we don't want a small army following us since the route to Kumo is the heaviest guarded rout at the moment due to the recent change of Kage." explained the Kaguya whom then decided to crack a joke "Looks like I'll be teaching you politics after geography."

"Very funny, lets just focus." Naruto couldn't hide his amusement as he jokily crossed his arms.

Many more hours passed until at the stroke of midnight the time had come. Although, Naruto got bored and fell asleep perhaps much needed since it was clear he was tired. Kimimaro went to nudge him awake but the blond grabbed his arm as soon as he got close. As soon as Naruto opened his eyes he awkwardly smiled then let go, one thing crossed his mind 'whoops'.

"It's time, follow my lead." said Sai as he went into a crouching position and began heading out.

"Finally I was getting bored." you can probably guess who said that, Naruto held back a yawn as he followed.

"Lets hope it stays that way." almost silently said Kimimaro, he hoped they knew what they were doing. Infiltrating a hidden village isn't exactly something you do everyday.

They went left of the hidden village walls the cover of darkness and terrain meant that they couldn't be spotted as long as they didn't get too close to the walls. They arrived at a what appeared to be a very oversized rock Sai nodded then placed his arm on it and traced his hand over it until he found what he was looking for. He pressed his hand into the rock causing that bit to go backwards ever so slightly causing a hole on the top of the rock to open up. The hole had stairs leading underground, they walked down into a small cavern like tunnel. The hole began to close up and Sai tugged a rope causing torches that lined up the tunnel to light. Kimimaro made a quick observation and could tell this place was old.

"How long has this been here?" the older teen asked.

"Not sure I last used it three years ago, I was meant to seal it off." honestly replied Sai.

"Oh really?" chuckled Naruto, there was a mischievous streak in Sai he thought.

"Back then me and my brother used it. You could say it was for just in case something went wrong. This isn't the time for explanation anyway." Sai killed any further conversation after a few minutes and climbing up some stairs they came to a small flight of stairs that seemed to be a dead end. Sai pushed a rock that was sticking out of the cavern wall. The exit above them opened and they walked upwards. Moonlight shone through and as they exited Naruto grinned. He should've known Sai is always the subtle one, they were on top of the Hokage faces the second one to be exact. Naruto noticed that a fifth face was being carved but this wasn't the time to admire it. Kimimaro shook his head and sighed of all the entrances and exits it had to be here, Sai was completely oblivious of his friends lets say amusement, he motioned them to follow as they began to make their way to the streets.

Naruto had taken the lead as soon as they were in the streets going through alleyways, the streets were nice and quite tonight so it was easier for them. Or so they thought as they came to a crossroad in the alley Naruto's head jolted to the right then quietly yet quickly swerved backwards. His friends knew someone else was there now but they couldn't tell if whoever it was had seen them. Kimimaro stood near the corner prepared to knock out whoever it was if they had seen them. The person a girl turned towards them prompting the Kaguya to strike yet the blow never came as Naruto had quickly gotten next to him and used his arm to block the blow.

The girl had pink hair and immediately knew who it was "Naruto? You came back."

"I'm sorry for everything." he could barely look at his former team mate; Sakura. He was ashamed for putting her through all this.

What came next took him by surprise as she hugged him shedding tears "Don't apologise its not your fault."

Naruto smiled and allowed tears to fall down his cheeks. She wasn't angry, she didn't hate him for what had happened and this meant the world to him.

"I don't mean to break this up but…" said Kimimaro, he didn't want to be to linger that much longer.

Sakura broke from the hug and wiped the tears from her face. "Go save her that's why you're here. I won't say a word."

"Goodbye. Naruto I'll see you again soon." she sorrowfully smiled before walking past them knowing that she will see him again.

"Bye Sakura…" uttered Naruto before whispering to himself. "I will never forgot my promise."

Kimimaro and Sai waited for a few seconds until their friend nodded he was ready to continue after gathering his thoughts. It wasn't long until they were at the back end of the wall of the Hyuga compound so far so good. Although all three of them noticed someone approaching and quickly hid in a nearby alley. The one approaching knelt against the wall then uttered "Swordfish."

"Call out the other guy." half ordered Naruto as he showed himself in front of the new arrival; Neji.

The 'other guy' made himself known and somewhat surprisingly it was Shino "Your sharp."

"You? Didn't expect this." to be honest he was surprised and didn't hide it at all.

"I care she is my comrade." simply replied Shino.

"How much time left?" Naruto asked Neji.

The Hyuga replied with a mixture of relief and fear "Their doing it tomorrow your timing is impeccable."

"Save her." meekly said the bug user. Naruto's face was that of solid determination as he nodded the time had come. Neji pushed his hand on the wall which, allowed it to slide ever so slightly open so you could get in one person at a time. Shino put his hand on the ground allowing his insects to scurry into the compound and scout the planned route. When they came back they relayed back to Shino whom passed it on to his friends that the guard was relatively light around the target as was the route that was going to be taken. As long as they didn't stray in the direction of the courtyard they'd be fine. Neji and Shino backed off they had done their part the rest was up to those three. However, unbeknownst to them a clearly skilled man had been watching them completely undetected. The man smiled at the actions of Naruto with pride before smoothly and silently disappearing from the area.

As planned Sai stopped halfway and remained hidden, the other two made it to the back of the very small garden of the targeted room and slid open the door. Naruto creeped into the room and saw the girl he had set out to save. The 'target' stood up and turned around showing mixed emotions; shock, fear and joy. "He asked you…"

Naruto gave a smile of relief, she was ok "The one and only, a promise is a promise."

With Sasuke around the same time

On Sasuke and Suigetsu's way back they encountered a lone what seemed to be Konoha Anbu but Sasuke could tell he wasn't. Especially since they got the jump on this enemy and wiped him out in less than two minutes. Clearly not of Anbu level but he did have something rather interesting; a bingo book. After getting back to base Sasuke went into the library and began reading the book making sure to see if a certain someone was in or not in the book. As he turned a page he scowled.

"What's that look for?" Suigetsu's curiosity had been grabbed.

"Potential opponents in the future." replied the Uchiha s he held the page he was looking at and showed it

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Age: 14_

_Rank: B-class_

_Known Skills: Shadow clones, Rasengan, mid level taijutsu_

_Bio: Born in Konoha, banished due to aiding a defection and causing harm to four other Konoha shinobi during the defection. Later attacked and killed a Konoha squad for unknown reason. Travels with Sai and another unknown. Caution is required on approach due to insufficient knowledge on Uzumaki Naruto's full skill._

_Sai_

_Age: 14-15_

_Rank: B-class_

_Known Skills: Ink based Ninja arts, mid-high level taijutsu_

_Bio: Former Konoha shinobi, other background unknown, travels with Uzumaki Naruto and fights alongside him. Was involved it the deaths of the attacked Konoha squad by Uzumaki Naruto. Caution is required due to lack of knowledge of enemy._

The was a large smirk on Suigetsu's face "Heh sounds like fun."

"We'll see." concluded Sasuke, he was intrigued that the power Naruto had used when they fought hadn't be mentioned. It was demonic and the form was very similar to that of a fox, now he knew that they would meet again sooner or later.

Where we left off with Naruto

Kimimaro watched the girl head towards them ready to leave but something was wrong. The albino recognised that her eyes where a pink colour, it was apparent that something had been done already but was it the seal? She walked forwards but collapsed making a notably loud thud on the wooden floor.

Hinata eyes widen then roll back of head before collapsing making large bang on the ground

Hyuga Hinata it was time to rescue her, she steeled herself before taking a step forward and picking up a backpack. Naruto tried to smile with reassurance but he knew exactly how she felt right now. Just as the girl was in front of him her eyes rolled upwards into the back of her head causing her to collapse on Naruto forcing them to the ground with a loud bang.

"Little help here." his face was bright red but at least Kimimaro didn't say anything as he picked the girl up and softly put her over his shoulder. Someone must've heard that noise and so they quickly left heading for the 'hidden' exit that they used to enter this compound.

Just outside of the Hyuga compound, Neji mentally cursed as heard the alarm being raised. He took one look at Shino and nodded, just as well they sort of had a plan B as said bug user vanished from sight. Neji quickly pushed a brick on wall around the 'hidden' entrance and hoped they would show up soon. He followed suit and disappeared from any form of sight, he couldn't afford to be spotted just yet.

The three rescuing 'kidnappers' rushed out of the back exit which, abruptly closed behind them that was very close. Obviously Neji and Shino were no longer around the area, the three of them needed to be quick it wouldn't be long until the Hyuga send out pursuit squads.

"So much for in and out." remarked Sai.

"Nothing is ever easy for us." sighed Kimimaro

"We can complain about our luck later." Naruto shot back, everything had currently gone to crap. The only thing to do was make for Sai's tunnel entrance and get the hell out of Konoha, at least that was what he was thinking right now. There was no way they could take to the rooftops they'd be spotted in an instant so they were basically forced to take the long route.

Just then they felt a presence behind them but were a little relived that is was Neji whom was mock pursuing them.

"There are eight of my clan pursuing you, they can't read our lips from here and because of the surprise there is no radio system set up." he informed, his face formed into that of rage when he saw the state Hinata's chakra network was in.

"Hey is she ok!"

"She'll probably be unconscious for a couple of days judging from what I can see." Neji couldn't hide his hatred for what had been done to her.

"We must hurry when the Anbu black ops get assembled its over." Sai pointed out.

"Those Hyuga members are worse they can see where we're going." said Naruto it was becoming clear he was loosing any composure that was left.

"Remember when we fought. Think about it." yelled Neji as he was deliberately falling back a little but not too much.

A distance a way the eight Hyuga clan members slowed down heavily clearly frustrated at what that just saw. They could see Neji giving chase but then a cloud of smoke covered them after which, Neji was knocked backwards into an empty stand. Out of the smoke five completely identical groups of the kidnapers spread out down the alleys. This tactic forced them to divide up, two of them headed to where Neji was.

By the west gate nearby was Shino hiding between two buildings as a minuscule amount of insects crawled down his arms and scurried off. He knew what needed to be done this would buy them the time they needed. Meanwhile, Neji was playing his part as he punched the ground after getting out of the stand he was knocked into. He knew the two Hyuga members were behind him now. They assured him that they would catch them and Neji stood up in time to see an explosion in the west. Through the eyes of the Byakugan you could see that the west gate had been breached from the inside and three figures that matched the kidnappers went through it. This was all the two Hyuga members wanted to see as they almost ignored Neji and went straight towards the gate. At the west gate Shino slunk away into the night he had used some of his specialised insects that have the ability to explode to cause a diversion. It had worked brilliantly as several of the Hyuga clan also went through the breach in pursuit. More were obviously on their way by the time they realise that those are shadow clones it will be over and hopefully they would've gotten away.

Seeing and sensing that the route to the top of the Hokage faces monument was clear Naruto, Sai and Kimimaro had made it. Just as the exit was opening after Sai made several weird step movements, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. But it turned into a gasp of air as he was struck from behind it felt like someone had stabbed him in the lungs. The one that had struck him was a Hyuga, to be more exact it was Hiashi the father of Hinata. Naruto fell on his knees in pain managing to stop himself falling completely. None of them were even aware of Hiashi's presence until it was pretty much too late. Sai pulled out several kunai and threw them. The Hyuga effortlessly moved out of the way but Sai had got the result he wanted as he grabbed Naruto and pulled him towards the exit. Kimimaro gritted his teeth and laid down Hinata carefully. "Get her and go only I can stand up to this guy."

"You're her father! Why are you doing this to her!" shouted Naruto in anger.

Hiashi made his intent to kill known, his Byakugan had revealed to him who they all were whatever their intention he was not letting them have his beloved daughter.

Just below the stone faces Neji was darting upwards, the explosion at the gate had allowed him to follow them without a hitch. That was until he saw his Uncle Hiashi appear out of nowhere and almost incapacitate Naruto. Neji noticed that while Hiashi could've killed the boy, he had held himself back from such a thing. Neji had to get up there and intervene before they draw attention to themselves.

On the top of the monument it was clear who was winning, Kimimaro was no match for one of the clan heads. His right arm had been temporarily paralysed, Sai promptly entered the fray as long as this Hyuga was here they couldn't escape. Naruto wanted to join the fight but he couldn't stand at the moment and couldn't leave Hinata either. Hiashi used rotation blasting back his two attackers before rushing right towards Naruto. The boy saw this and his face basically said 'oh crap'. He managed to pull himself to his feet but there was no way he could even block this blow. Just as he braced himself a sphere of chakra appeared in front of him. Hiashi double backed and once the rotation of chakra ceased he could see that it was Neji.

"Are you betraying us?" the amount of killer intent form Hiashi had the potential to freeze hell over.

"You misunderstand they are saving her." calmly said Neji.

"How does this save her!" furiously shouted Hiashi

Neji clenched his fists before shouting back "And the alternative to this is better?"

Silence followed for mere seconds before everything clicked for Hiashi. "You planned this."

"I did that seal would kill her even if she did survive. I acted to protect her."

"Why would you do that to your own daughter!" interrupted Naruto his breathing was ragged yet you could tell he was fuming.

"I had no choice! You think I can stand against the clan like that!" berated Hiashi.

"Then I have no choice but to do what family should even if cost me my life." upon finishing this bold statement Neji entered a full combat stance

"This is foolish there is still time to stop this madness." the man had faltered his will to fight was being drained. Before him stood his nephew ready to die if need be to protect her.

"If this could be prevented now it would've been. Family does not hand out death sentences like that." growled Neji. He could see as clear as day Hiashi didn't know what to do, so he pushed on "Those elders have made this clan rotten, can you really be comfortable with this? Would you really allow her to die?"

"…. I do not wish Hinata to have to leave because of this." sorrowfully said Hiashi. '_but maybe this could be the right choice_' It was time for him to take a gamble, a time to truly protect his daughter in the only way that was possible. "Uzumaki Naruto go now before I change my mind…"

He smiled they had his blessing to go but wanted to make sure they knew one thing "Look after her for I cannot. If you don't I will come for you."

"I promise on my life. I'll stay with her." determinedly replied Naruto as he put his hand over his heart just to emphasise it.

Neji could see the Hiashi's worries "Don't worry you did the right thing."

"I hope I have nephew, at least she will have a better life this way." he sighed, the only way to avoid that fate was to leave Konoha. He knew this yet wished his daughter didn't have to go like this.

"He will look after her. Naruto does not break his promises." the branch member tried to comfort him. Neji knew Naruto well there was no way he'd break that promise, he decided to leave and help with the 'pursuit'.

Hiashi looked at the moon and uttered "Godspeed daughter."

Hokage's Tower: Seven hours later

The fifth Hokage was standing at the window gazing across the village taking note of the commotion. Then a familiar toad sage opened the door and could feel the unrest coming from her, she was tempted to throw something at him for being so slow on the arrival.

"What took you so long!" she shouted.

"Sorry what's all this commotion?" lazily asked Jiraiya.

"You bloody well know what it is!"

"Ah yes the Heiress is 'kidnapped'."

"How can you be so calm?"

"Well, aside from this thing being brash and planned on the fly. This was obviously a rescue of sorts." the sage coolly said.

"Explain yourself…now." she raised her fist at him demanding answers.

"Ok don't get violent. One they were in and out of the Hyuga complex too quickly to be foreign. Two they used shadow clones to aid in their escape. And three its not everyday B rank rogues come back to their village." Jiraiya finished with a proud smile.

"You mean…" it made more sense to Tsunade now and explained how they had gotten in and out so quickly "It makes more sense now but how can he take such a stupid risk."

"The girl. Something forced him into action and it was her. Gwah ha how romantic." grinned Jiraiya, he could use that as a plot in his next book he thought.

"I don't think he did it for that. But at least she'll be safe from the Hyuga elders now, I just hope their alright and no one else saw them." the lady Hokage sighed wondering what that unpredictable blond was going to do next.

**You probably guessed a mile off who they were rescuing, if not… surprise! Ravens symbolise doom that is why it is in the caged seal part. Next time more is revealed and the plot goes forwards.**


	17. Chapter 17

Apologies for the wait, I've re-found my love for fan fiction so lets go! Naruto and Co make it into Kumo and plan their next move. But how will this new addition affect them and what is going on in Konoha in the wake of this?

**Disclaimer: I believe I can fly but I believe I don't own Naruto**

Clothing note Naruto, Sai and Kimimaro are still wearing the light brow cloaks but with the hoods down. Naruto and Sai also are not wearing their Konoha headbands. Hinata is currently wearing pre-shippuden clothing.

**Chapter 17 : Awakening Fox**

In a mountain like area just in Kumo, it was morning the past two days had been very tiring for the three rescuing 'kidnappers' since they hadn't really stopped. Mainly because to do so was risky and also none of them wanted to stop. Unfortunately the former Hyuga heiress was yet to awaken, Neji had said a couple of days but it was a speculation not a matter of fact.

"God I hope she wakes up soon." sighed Naruto.

"I read a kiss can wake a deep sleeping woman" Sai tried to make light of the current situation.

"I'm not in the mood for your jokes." bluntly said Naruto whom then broke into a short coughing fit.

"Are you alright?" worriedly asked Kimimaro. The blow Hiashi had given the boy clearly hadn't healed properly yet.

"I feel fine. I'm glad I helped one of my precious people." replied the blond giving a toothy grin.

Sai thought for a second before adding his own input "I'm starting to believe we should have a motto. Something like screw the odds, we have skill."

Konoha

The whole rescue/abduction that had been committed had gone down with mixed feelings. Mainly the House of Hyuga was in uproar, the elders wanting to know just how this sort of thing happened and so easily too. Only those that knew of what really happened were assured that she was safe but didn't mean they were not concerned. Hopefully no one else got a look at them. Currently the explosion at one of the gates was still being investigated but is was currently presumed that they escaped in the confusion via that gate.

Meanwhile at the Hokage's tower a certain toad sage was sitting on the rooftop waiting. His head lifted and then peered through the window of the office. He saw a worried Tsunade and tried to reassure her "That kid didn't stop, no trace."

"Then that's a good thing. I hope the Hyuga clan didn't see them otherwise…" she said then sighed.

"We'd know by now. Another plus point he avoids S rank status." Jiraiya was trying his best to look on the bright side

"I hope he knows what he's doing."

"I'll contact you in a week. I'll have another look around." with that said the sage vanished in a flicker of wind and leaves.

Kumo boarder

The three of them decided to stay near the boarder to avoided any contact with Kumo shinobi, from what Kimimaro had said the patrols are further in, near an open plain of land which gives little to no cover for any intruder. To the albino it was another victory for knowing the geography of the land. They had found a safe place to set up camp near a large rocky outcrop surrounded by tall grass, night was beginning to fall. Naruto looked exhausted which, was odd considering. Perhaps Hiashi did more damage than they thought.

"You don't look so good." that was a hint from Kimimaro that he should really sleep now.

Naruto was fighting off falling asleep on the spot "I'm fine."

"Regardless we need rest. I'll take first watch." it was a half command from Sai. Naruto was far too tired to argue this time and simply nodded. Basically he was asleep before his head hit the pillow you could tell by the snoring.

About four or so hours later it was Kimimaro's turn to take watch, he paused for a second when he was up. He gazed over at Hinata her face looked peaceful, it put him at ease especially considering the gravity of the situation a few days ago. He approached Sai whom looked back at him then resumed watch.

"What a pain. At least he's almost fully recovered from what that Hyuga did."

"I've noticed that he's also had the least amount of sleep in the past week." pointed out Sai.

"That girl means something to him. Be it friendship or something else. Yet I'd be like that if it was my friends in that situation." Kimimaro remembered Kin but shook his head that was still a sore memory.

"I think we should just let him sleep. He clearly needs it."

The albino nodded "I'm actually agreeing with you. Lucky you."

It was officially the next day and was now coming up to midday. Kimimaro was watching Sai over cooking the rice again but it seemed like more than simple observation. The ex-root ninja looked in Kimimaro's direction, he remembered that was a similar look the one he gave after the attempted root assassination.

"You don't fully trust me do you?"

"It's complicated. You proved yourself in Konoha though. That was impressive, so maybe I can trust you properly now."

"Not that I blame you. I wouldn't trust myself at least I know I have a better standing with you." he assumed. Any further conversation was abruptly interrupted by a loud 'what the hell!'

Naruto pulled an awkward face when he noticed how loud that was. He quickly sorted himself out and walked over to them "Why didn't ya wake me!"

"Pout all you want you needed it." simply said Kimimaro.

"Whatever. I'm a little worried though she's still asleep." he replied obviously concerned about Hinata's well being

"I think she'll wake up soon. It's been long enough." bluntly put Sai whom received a slap up the head from Kimimaro whom then whispered to him "Look up consideration in the dictionary."

A few hours past and during this time Naruto had taken a page out of one of friends books and taken up some cloud watching. He was surprised how calming it was although Sai made it humorous when he joined in, voicing bizarre and somewhat suggestive observations of the clouds. Kimimaro was sitting nearby Hinata with his arms and legs crossed. His eyes had been shut quite a while as if he'd fallen asleep on the spot. Naruto slowly made his way over and waved his arm in front of the albino's face, no reaction.

"What now?" asked a bemused Sai.

Naruto suddenly grew a mischievous grin "Erm…. lets draw a beard and moustache on him."

"Try it and I'll kick your ass." calmly said Kimimaro not even bothering to move which, made those two jump. His eye's shot open and he looked behind him, someone was stirring. Naruto nearly dashed over but fell over in the process. This resulted in Hinata opening her eyes with said blond face mere inches from hers, she didn't know if this was a dream but one thing was for sure her face was bright red.

Naruto managed to get himself out of that awkward situation quickly aside from an apologetic grin. He saw that her face was still very red and thought she must have a temperature. He didn't really chose his next words well "Are you hot?"

Kimimaro slapped his head before going over, amusing yes but not the right time for this. "She's been out for a while. Go get some food."

He waited for Naruto to go over to start another fire since the one under the pot of rice had gone out. He noticed that she was hiding some her face under the sleeping bag, he realised that he probably is a bit intimidating. "Don't be frightened your amongst friends."

"W..w..where am I?" she was incredibly nervous.

"Kumo."

"How, why did…"

"Not sure how we did it. As to why I'm not the one to ask, I merely followed Naruto's lead." he explained. A minutes worth of silence followed before the girl managed to utter one simple word "Who?"

"Ah how rude of me. I am Kaguya Kimimaro and the other guy is Sai, he's…unique. We've been travelling with him almost since his abrupt departure from Konoha." said Kimimaro, he was trying to be as informative as possible. He highly doubted she was goanna say much to him anyway. After all she'd only just met him any kind of trust had to be earned well time for another round of silence

Hinata's take on this Kimimaro was that maybe she could trust him since was with this guy. Although she was very taken back sure she knew Neji had contacted Naruto but she highly doubted he was come back to Konoha just for her. Now she knew that Naruto really did care for all his friend and would do anything for them. She wasn't stupid though it was perfectly clear that she may never return to Konoha and that scared her. Hinata didn't truly know what to feel.

"I'm goanna go check what's taking so long. You might be a bit stiff from being asleep for so long. Just take it easy." Kimimaro stood up and walked off, it was too awkward just sitting there in silence.

Kimimaro overheard some of the conversation between the two as he approached. As he made to them properly he assumed then stated "She doesn't know you're a Jinchūriki"

"In Konoha its illegal to even hint I'm one. She shouldn't know." said Naruto while resting his head on his hand.

"That explains it. You have to tell her, this isn't something you can hide." the Kaguya explained.

"How the hell am I goanna do that? You know when I was in Konoha a lot of people feared me, just as many hated me for what I was." the blond put both hands on his head and frustrated ruffled it.

"That's why… but we accepted it. Heck that fox can kiss my ass, you are yourself not that oversized fur ball." Sai almost actually shouted that prompting a grin from Kimimaro whom then looked directly at Naruto and said his bit.

"Neither of you two will say this but you saved her life. She will at least hear you out before deciding."

"Fine but I do this myself. Stay out of this ok." said Naruto. He got agreeing nods and scratched the back of his head as he went over.

They both looked onwards as the now nervous Naruto slowly walked over towards the girl. It was pretty obvious he was stumbling his way through by the way he kept scratching the back of his head. She had quite a few questions for him and he tried to answer them the best he could. But now it was his turn, he took a deep breath and told in a very hasty action. His face was fearful when he saw how shocked she was.

"I don't blame you for being frightened. Now you know…" he decided he should leave but was taken by surprise when she sat right up and hugged him. Hinata couldn't hate or fear him, it explained so much she couldn't help but cry for the things he had suffered. Naruto's arms shook as he she buried her head into his shoulder, he wasn't sure why but he put his hand on her head to comfort her.

Kimimaro smiled at the sight of those two he was thinking about going over but after seeing that little hug he decided to stay put. He tilted his head towards Sai whom looked pretty confused. "She likes him."

"Of course they are friends." Sai didn't get what was meant by that.

"Heh. I think he has something there as well."

"I don't follow." still the pale-ish teen didn't get what he meant.

"You figure it out." sighed Kimimaro, he lifted head up. "There's never a dull day."

A few hours after proper introduction and further explanations later, things had settled down somewhat. Apart from Sai unintentionally insulting everyone, all other things had gone without a hitch. Obviously the main discussion was about a certain demon fox, the former Hyuga heiress finally understood why things were the way it had been back then. Naruto opened up a little probably cause of the girls presence, what they learnt was rather shocking Kimimaro saw it as a fate worse than death. So many years of solitude, hatred anyone else would've gone insane. It could barely compared to the Kaguya's upbringing, at least he was valued as something even if was just as a weapon. Naruto had let his guard down and it was clear on his face how bitter he was about his childhood, at least he knew why he was hated and why all of this had happened.

Hyuga Hinata was reluctant to explain when she saw how much Naruto was trying to hide his sorrow. He could tell she wanted to explain herself and nodded towards her to begin. Long story short the clan heads were unhappy she'd lost to a branch member and that they deemed her unworthy to be the heir. Basically to solve that 'problem' they would strike her from the clan and seal up her eyes with caged raven seal. There was thirty percent chance of blindness and a sixty percent chance of dieing within a year. A truly brutal and fearsome seal, last time it was used was on a traitor of the clan. She knew that it was now unlikely she could ever go back to the clan.

For the next hour silence reigned, Naruto had wondered not too far away from the others. He was trying to control his emotions at the moment talking about this and hear Hinata's explanation had made him angry. And he of all people knew what can happen if his rage gets the better of him. He returned with a light smile, he needed to change the mood maybe get a little creative. "Ok we need a super special awesome name for us four!"

"Tch… well we're not low profile material anyway." sighed Kimimaro

"Hmmm how abut Team Sai." it was pretty obvious who suggested that

"Not one that makes your ego bigger than the mountains." the blond countered.

Kimimaro smirked and shrugged his shoulder "There goes my suggestion of Team Bone."

"Because you have a bon…" Sai was cut off with a swift slap up the back of the head.

"There's a lady present and stop making those suggestive jokes about us." the albino scolded.

"Err… anyway can we have a proper suggestion." Naruto sighed at their antics.

Hinata managed to pluck up the courage and make a suggestion "K..Kitsune."

"That sounds good." grinned Naruto.

"No complaints here. Especially since whatever Sai was going to suggest is clearly wrong." Kimimaro shot Sai a look pretty much telling him 'don't you dare'.

"Ah my suggestion would make you two sound gay." Sai pointed out.

"Lady present remember." the older teen sighed

"You two really will argue over anything. We have a cool name now what are we goanna do?" Naruto paused and thought about it

Kimimaro began smiling which, slowly got mischievously wide. He looked at Naruto whom was becoming nervous. "I know lets paint a beard and moustache on you."

**And relax. With the formation of team Kitsune they head out for a more secure area in Kumo but run into someone that is almost stranger than Gai. Who the hell is this person and why is Kyuubi acting up? **


	18. Chapter 18

The newly formed Team Kitsune continue moving around Kumogakure and are quickly greeted by a certain individual that has a lot in common with one of them. But will this cause hostility or understanding between the two?

Warning! Mind blowing bad cool rapping inside!

**Disclaimer: Yo yo I don't own Naruto cause I'm no fool if I had then I'd lose you (those rapping classes are paying off)**

Clothing note Hinata, Kimimaro and Naruto are wearing the light brown cloaks with the hoods down. Sai is just wearing his standard clothing with the dark blue coat.

**Chapter 18 : Hachibi**

The newly formed team had been walking around Kumo for a while they had made it to a rocky outcrop surrounded by trees. Coming to an abrupt stop they realised something and talk about stating the obvious as you know who just had to say. "We're lost."

"We usually get lost when you take the lead." Kimimaro joked

Naruto scratched the back of his feeling a little embarrassed "Oh I'm not that bad."

He gazed over to Hinata whom was smiling at him, he smiled back and turned his head away with a little blush on his cheeks. Kimimaro let a small grin escape at the boys actions. Oh this would be so much fun for him later anyway he can entertain his thoughts later, right now they had to get un-lost. "I'm definitely teaching you geography later."

"Really? So you know where we are?" sarcastically asked Naruto.

"No but that's not the point." replied Kimimaro crossing his arms.

They continued making their way through the area hoping that they don't run into any unwanted trouble. Naruto scowled for a moment he could've sworn he just heard the Kyuubi growling, he hadn't heard his voice for months so what was causing this and what was this odd sensation?

He didn't have time to dwell on this as out of nowhere an unknown appeared in front of them. All four of them immediately entered a battle stance, almost out of instinct Naruto threw his left arm in front of Hinata and drew a kunai with other. It was a lone shinobi a tall black man wearing a Kumo headband, sunglasses and several katana swords on his back. What concerned Kimimaro was that none of them had even felt his presence nearby, this guy was good. The new arrival tilted his head when he saw the girl until he began humming until breaking out in song "An Heiress you snatch or maybe catch. No disbelief thanks to da leaf oww!"

"He sings!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Why don't you go so I can go with da flow yo!" rapped the Kumo ninja striking a bull sign with his hands.

"No yo, we ain't goin nowhere… fa show" the young blond tried to rap back in a terrible fashion.

Sai being Sai thought this may be ordinary behaviour "Should I join in?"

"Hell no, I've never heard such a racket." bluntly put Kimimaro.

"Name's Kirabi and don't dis me. ow" to emphasise this the rapping man threw his arms out and pointed at them while he sung.

"So much for the easy way." sighed the blond.

After a brief moment of silence and strange humming coming from Kirabi whom stayed in a relaxed pose, the Kumo ninja decided quietness was overrated. "The lil'lady isn't safe, she best be elsewhere."

Naruto probably jumped to the wrong conclusion but with determination shouted back "Like I'm goanna let you have her. Kumo won't have her you'll have to go through me."

'Nicely put. You definitely feel something for her. But you sure know how to drop us in it.' as he thought this Kimimaro let out a somewhat brief wide grin which, was seen only by Sai whom pulled a confused face. While Hinata was blushing like mad at the boys bold proclamation.

"It would seem that our troubles grow constantly" the raven haired teen said.

"Whoa calm down kids." Kirabi raised both arms up then threw out as he begun another round of song "Who needs violence when we can rap battle fa show!"

"Erm. No your weirder than me…" the blond couldn't help but falter at this mans 'rap battle' challenge.

"Where's da respect. Make me bite ma tongue and No.8 go fa show."

Naruto winched as if someone had just shouted in his ear. He sighed before replying "No.8 huh? Well can it handle a No.9 time?"

"I knew it you're the Kyuubi host! Well I'm the Hachibi host and we obviously need to talk."

"Guess the old fox was right about you. Although what do we say?"

"Lets see what did he say…the fox is as ugly as usual"

Naruto's eyes widened then slapped both hands over his ears "Great now I've got a headache. Lets just say I'm too pure to repeat the stuff he said basically he doesn't like the octo-bull."

"Our eight and nine really need to shine." Kirabi thrust his arm into the air and Naruto grinned before he too joined in "They sound so annoyed yet I'm overjoyed."

"Haha you have good taste, you deserve to bump fists with me." Kirabi punched out his fist and Naruto did the same taking up on the mans offer to bump fists.

'It's like they know each other well. Perhaps all Jinchuriki are like this with each other.' assumed Kimimaro

"Ok then… rhyming aside what next?" Sai asked to no one in particular.

"We get to avoid trouble." the Kaguya almost immediately replied with a bit of relief.

Naruto flinched a little while Kirabi simply scratched his cheek "Our respective beasts have something to say."

"Its been a while, hope I do this right." said Naruto as he sat down but tumbled over as he did this. Kirabi was a lot more graceful as he simply stood still like a statue, both were now ready to enter the mindscape and visit their inner demon

Kirabi's 'mindscape'

The Hachibi had his eyes closed but immediately opened when he noticed that Kirabi was sitting on his nose. The 'longhorn' bull snorted before he began. 'That kid better not do that damn stuff you do.'

'He has style and I can tell he's a good kid.' Kirabi gave a thumbs up to emphasise this.

'But he hosts the Kyuubi. That is something to be weary of.'

'Let me guess another lecture?'

'Fine I'll give the short version. A fox doesn't like being contained and will try to break free. Watch out for that child if he gets angry that ugly thing will try and get out. Although something feels different with that fox.'

'Now why don't you like him?' the man rested his head on his arm in a confusion.

'Difference of belief. And the fact he caused me to be sealed into such an oaf.' it would seem that the Hachibi was still annoyed that this 'oaf' was his host.

'Ahh you love me really. What did ya mean by different?'

'As I said an oaf. The fox may be learning a lesson at last but we'll see.' muttered the Hachibi before jolting his head 'subtly' insinuating that the conversation was over.

Naruto's 'mindscape'

Just like last time the young blond had been here it was still had a sewer dungeon look, he approached the cage and a claw hit the bars from the inside of the cage. The demon was pissed not only at the new arrival but also the fact that his host nearly got him killed over a week ago. Naruto just smiled as he approached and stopped just outside of the fox's reach thanks to the bars he rubbed his head and then the fox snorted 'Blasted Hachibi and that uncultured moron.'

'I take you've met him before.'

'An old friend that fought me over something as stupid as humanity. That is why he lost.' you could hear the pride in the demon's voice over his old victory

'So why didn't you become lord and master of the world.' a now heavily mocking Naruto responded with a s grin plastered on his face. This prompted the fox to thrash at the bars which, held it the boy only flinched a little since he was expecting some kind of reaction.

'That sarcasm will get you killed you know very well why. And besides why would I want to be ruler anyway. Its those bloody red eyed apes fault.' roared the Kyuubi he was angry now at this boys brazen attitude towards him.

'Huh what?'

'Regardless since you don't have a hope in hell of beating this Kirabi. Utilise him I will not have some weak kid guarding me.' the fox growled, he'd calmed himself down a little since he shouldn't be rising to his hosts taunts since it was beneath him.

'Oh gee thanks, you sure make a good pep talk.'

'You can trust him. Since the Hachibi loves humanity he probably feels sorry for you.'

'I can see why he does.' Naruto said this quietly to himself but the fox easily heard that comment.

'Piss off. Or I'll eat you.'

The Real Ninja World

The two Jinchūriki began moving more like humans again, Naruto stood back up and felt a bit sore. They both looked at each other and compared notes on the 'wisdom' that had been passed on.

"Kyuubi says I can trust you although he's in a bad mood today… then again he always like that." after saying this he flinched again, the fox blatantly heard that. Hopefully he would calm down soon since the Hachibi hosts mere presence was angering the fox and seemed to have some impact on his seal since now he could hear the Kyuubi pretty much loud and clear.

"Mine tried lecturing me, about your beast. If ya going to stay I need to tell the Raikage for your own safety." simply said Kirabi while scratching the back of his head mainly due to how the boy reacted the first time he suggested Kumo interference.

"Oh really?" sceptically replied Naruto

"Ah calm down we got a new good one. And he's my bro you but I'm still the greatest ever ever." Kirabi finished his rap and wiped out a small notebook and scribbled something down as he started walking ahead.

"Ok then…lets go I guess." half grinned the blond whom followed on along with the rest of his newly founded team.

Sai thinking that this 'rap' was normal tried to join in but his voice was monotone when he began "Yo…go with da flow."

"No…just no…I will hurt you." instantly cut in Kimimaro, he clenched his fist giving the message that he'll hit Sai if he starts rapping.

Around the same time; Unknown location

A blade slashed into the air, the second Kusenage held by Uchiha Sasuke it felled a shinobi in one fell strike. There was another enemy behind him but a two-handed sword pierced the foes chest from behind; Suigetsu was responsible for that kill and was clearly proud of it with the grin upon his face. Several other foes appeared out of the bushes that surrounded the area resulting in the two being encircle but by no means trapped.

"Not complaining but the hell are we here for?."

"All of these men are traitors, so long as we are with Oto we have to stay in the good books." upon saying this four of the enemy solders attacked, Suigetsu killed one of them instantly with a cross slash that nearly split the poor guy into four and then followed on by impaling another with his sword. Sasuke on the other hand killed the other two with a single blow to their hearts, he then continued his reply "Besides these men are warmongers that prefer chaos and villainy. They cannot run free and cause suffering."

"Spoken like a shinobi of Konoha damn you suck." Suigetsu was interrupted this by six attackers the first one he decapitated instantly the other two came at him with katana but he simply swung his sword smashing their weapons and cleaving right thought them. Sasuke on the other simply dashed in-between the remaining three and reversed his grip before doing a 360 arc with his blade killing all three of the foes instantly.

"Why did we have to bloody walk this far to kill these morons anyway?" sneered Suigetsu, they had broken the supposed encirclement. More enemies could be seen charging them head on but they never got in striking distance as almost all of them were killed in hail of kunai. The survivors were finished personally by Kabuto and his shinobi whom had now made themselves known. The Uchiha merely rolled his eyes at their blood filled entrance to this battle, in reaction to this the spectacled youth simply shrugged. "Shame the Fuma decided to betray us but you never could trust them. It's easier this way."

"This is a massacre, half the ones we just took on weren't even shinobi." commented Sasuke.

"It's their own fault. Now go clean up the left… or butcher it Suigetsu." Kabuto smirked before moving out to finish of his task.

As soon as the Oto shinobi were out of sight again Suigetsu sneered before he decided to mock his supposed leader. "So 'boss' do ya want me to butcher it or do it your pansy way?"

"Fight how you like. We have work to do." coldly replied Sasuke, he was not in the mood for this so called battle and his partners usual attitude.

"Hold on why is it that its only us f**king fighting on this side." it was obvious that Suigetsu was pissed off about this.

"Tch their testing us. Come we may yet find someone worth fighting." as if Sasuke was tempting a fight more of the Fuma sect appeared. Suigetsu gave a very psychotic grin as he charged forwards, Sasuke gave his usual confident smirk and followed his partners charge, today this insidious clan would end.

Back with Naruto

Around an area of hills covered by bushes and rocks five certain individuals were walking across it. The still newly formed Team Kitsune were following the Hachibi host Kirabi of whom was beating out a 'banging' series of tunes that could drop a house…yo.

"Your even getting on my nerves and that's saying something." Sai had to admit he was a bit put out by the amount of rapping coming from this strange man.

"Da two lovebirds don't mind my rhyme. So let just say it ain't a crime." the Hachibi host began to boast, his rhymes weren't a crime to him their sublime.

"L l lovebird! What are you talking about!" a surprised Naruto said, his face was as red as Hinata's was at this moment.

"To early too soon are ya goanna swoon." further sung Kirabi he was oblivious to the reactions since he felt he was on a roll.

"I..I I I…" Naruto couldn't stop stuttering now as for Hinata she had temporarily lost the ability to speak.

Kimimaro let out a very Cheshire like grin at the spectacle which, managed to freak Sai out a little and he even said "That smile is really creepy."

"What's wrong with smiling." replied the older teen wiping some of the grin from his face.

Sai half guessed why he was grinning so much but had to ask "Are you a closet pervert? I've read about them."

"Shut up"

**I may be older than some authors but I still have that immature streak as proven by the ending scene. Hachibi means eight tails and Kirabi is Killer Bee's Japanese name. After writing this chapter I was thinking in rhyme and song for the next two hours it was rap-tastic. Next time something we knew was going to happen eventually does…**


	19. Chapter 19

And I'm back... at last so anyway. After their encounter with the interesting Kirabi the host of the Hachibi(eight tails), Naruto and co. follow him until he goes off to meet the Raikage. While he's gone they find themselves bumping into someone they didn't expect…

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto… but I do own a TV.**

Clothing note Same as last chapter Hinata, Kimimaro and Naruto are wearing the light brown cloaks with the hoods down. Sai is just wearing his standard clothing with the dark blue coat. Sasuke's continue to wear the same clothes since chapter 15 and Suigetso is wearing standard brown Oto prisoner clothing.

**Chapter 19: Crossing Paths**

After a brief walk south accompanied by some unique rapping they arrived at an area with long grass, several boulders littered around the area and not too far east some woods. The Hachibi host had brought them here for a reason since the layout of the land was very unique for a border crossing zone. He poked his sunglasses and raised his right hand up.

"I'll go to ma bro, so just lay low…" Kirabi paused then got his notebook out and scribbled something down. "Look after the chick be back in a tick. Please be kind don't go to wide. Yeah!"

"O..kay then…"all this rapping was really starting to get on Kimimaro's nerves but on the bright side it was over for now as Kirabi vanished in a flurry of lightning.

Sai asked to no one in particular "Did you understand that?"

"He's gone to see his bro the kage and doesn't want us to wonder off too far." somehow Naruto was able to break down what Kirabi said and put it back into something understandable.

"I would say great minds think alike but that's pushing it." sarcastically said Sai.

"Oh gee thanks. We may as well stop here for now and wait, lets hope he ain't late." Naruto sung the last bit.

"…you can stop rapping. He's gone." the albino could swear he was getting a headache from all this rap.

Naruto grinned then sung "But not for long."

A brief silence occurred until Hinata broke it claiming she needed to go for a walk and emphasised she'd do it alone. Naruto saw the look in her eyes and remembered back to when he had to leave. He mentally slapped himself for being insensitive but didn't know whether to follow or not.

"Tch I knew it." remarked Kimimaro, he knew that look too.

"…aw crap why have we been acting like nothings happened." Naruto felt like punching something at the moment in his frustration.

"Cause she clearly doesn't want to talk about it. She won't accept this change for a while. Come on you took a while to adapt to this new life." stated the albino as a matter of fact.

"Yeah I know but… we shouldn't let her go off like that."

"She won't wonder too far from here. We'll hang around the edge of the woods if your that worried. But perhaps she needs some time to herself."

"Considering we are in Kumo I doubt anyone will attack us."

Kimimaro rolled his eyes at the boys statement _'Don't tempt fate'_

Meanwhile with Sasuke and Suigetsu

The two of them were nearly done cleaning up their side, although Sasuke was surrounded by at least seven of them he kept his cool as they all went for him they literally got a nasty shock as lightening emitted from the Uchiha's body. Stunning them long enough to have their numbers cut in half. Suigetso appeared from nowhere and plunged his sword deep in one unfortunate Fuma's chest, carrying on the momentum until smacking into a tree with the sword still stuck in him. Suigetso pulled out his sword showing satisfaction, Sasuke finished off the rest as quickly as possible surprisingly with barely any blood on his attire, until one was left. Suigetso saw an opportunity and jumped forward, the remaining enemy tried to run, which was a big mistake. With very swift slashes the Fuma ninja found himself missing his arms and with a pullback of the blade as if preparing to hit something away Suigetsu swung his sword round instantaneously decapitating his target. It was clear Sasuke wasn't impressed by the way that guy had just been killed "That was uncalled for."

"Old habits die hard. Hey I held back by not removing his legs, guess your pansy killing is rubbing off on me." a very wide smirk appeared on Suigetsu's face emphasising how pleased he was with his work.

"I prefer not littering the place with blood. It can draw attention."

"Ahah. There's one more hiding." the swordsman felt more excited upon realising one more was left.

"Far enough not to have heard us. Lets go." with that said they headed towards the unknown potential enemy. It wasn't long until they were in viewing distance they could see a woman… no a girl sitting down on a naturally fallen log.

"Is that one of them." half whispered Suigetsu.

"No, all the one's we've run into are male. And she looks like a more skilled shinobi, I probably don't have to ask but it's your call."

"Who knows she may be hot heh. Well I'm curious and I may get lucky." and off Suigetsu went with a slightly perverted thought of what he could do. Sasuke on the other hand remained where he was just in case, if this was a trap he needed to be able to have some element of surprise to counter.

Back with Naruto

Within the woods there was a quick surge of chakra, the three male ninja's heads shot up.

"Do you sense that?" Sai was the first to speak having noticed the others become dead serious.

"Aww sh*t" cried out Naruto, he wasn't one to curse but this was serious. Why did he tempt fate earlier that was all he could think now things had gone to crap they had to move now!

Meanwhile the sudden skirmish hadn't really amounted to that much although Suigetsu had made the mistake of trying to hug his target but received a kick that knocked him back. It amused him greatly though "Ohhh you play rough. I like that!"

Just as the swordsman was going to try again three other figures appeared before the girl causing him to double back instantly. Naruto looked back at Hinata and then at her attacker with a scowl, Sai asked the girl before the others "Are you ok?"

"S.. sorry… I haven't re.. recovered yet." she wearily replied.

Naruto bared his teeth and nearly shouted "The f*ck are you!"

"Bast**d why would I tell a little sh*t like you." countered Suigetsu briefly shaking his fist.

"I recommended you withdraw or you might die." simply said the albino

"Lets see how confident you are when you die!" the now more aggressive sword wielder retorted with a large smirk, he felt that this could be fun. But just as he was ready to charge a flicker of smoke and leaves appeared next to him revealing Uchiha Sasuke.

"What the…Sasuke?" weakly said Naruto who'd seemed to literally freeze for a while.

"It's been a while…Naruto." smoothly yet indifferently said the Uchiha.

Suigetsu kept his grin and raised an eyebrow "Oh so he's the one."

"You can smell the blood on them can't you." stated Kimimaro, he'd almost instantly locked onto that smell upon arrival.

"Sorry to say but we can't just approach them as 'friends'." somehow Sai was being sarcastic yet truthful at the same time, Naruto reluctantly nodded in agreement things have changed a heck of a lot in a year since all this 'stuff' began.

"Let me cut loose." complacently said Suigetsu.

"No this battle is unnecessary. Not one we need to fight." rationally Sasuke said, truthfully this was not the time for him to be fighting these guys nor the way he wished to face _him._

"You better not be writing me off!" the blond almost shouted.

"Heh I can see you've changed a bit. However, I do not have the time for you."

"There you have it he won't simply come with us." it was pretty obvious but since when did Sai not point it out.

"Don't take the piss out of me." Naruto was serious now deadly serious after all this time he'd caught up to the one he'd almost obsessively sought "I have waited for this even if I have to fight you Sasuke."

"This is become so homo erotic…" sarcastically yet in a creepy way truthfully said the swordsman. He shook his head with a humours smile. "Ya want me ta leave ya to it?"

"Shut it or I'll knock it into you." quickly said Sasuke in slightly serious way as he crossed his arms.

Meanwhile Sai felt some similarities between Suigetsu and Naruto although felt it inappropriate to say anything on the matter in their current predicament. The swordsman rolled his eyes then sighed "Tch joy four eyes is here."

"That's not very nice…oh?" sharply replied Kabuto whom suddenly appeared behind Sasuke, he looked at the ex-oto ninja "So your not…heh and its gone…"

"Are we gonna fight or take a nap… I am so bored now!" obviously tearing through pathetic resistance was boring for Suigetsu these guys should at least give him a better fight.

"More respect waterboy or I'll arrange you to go back." truthfully stated Kabuto.

"I see you still have the same social issues." interrupted the Kaguya.

"Whatever… I need to kill you for the autopsy anyway not for socialising."

"No avoiding it…" said Sai as he waited for someone to make the first move.

Naruto lifted his head up a little narrowing his eyes at the Uchiha "Leave Sasuke to me."

Just before anyone made a move Suigetsu turned his head towards Sasuke of whom nodded. The swordsman smirked as he leapt into action along with Kabuto, the newly formed Kitsune squad countered by also leaping into combat. Although only Sasuke and Naruto didn't move it would seem that both sides were honouring their sort of 'gentlemen's agreement'.

"Hmm…would he be pissed if I removed limbs again oh well worth a shot!" asked Suigetsu to no one in particular. It would seem that Sai and that girl was his opponents which, while it annoyed him that he was the only one fighting two foes, it also pleased him that he had two people to get to beg for mercy. Sai took the initiative pulling out one of his scrolls then drew a few lions of which, leapt out towards their enemy. Sure it took Suigetsu by surprise but he merely laughed when he easily dispatched them with a few slashes of his blade. He immediately countered by closing the distance and slashing downwards, Sai had somehow managed to draw his short sword but the sheer strength floored him, the strike could've easily cut him in half if it wasn't for Hinata striking two points in Suigetsu's arm. The white haired youth cursed profoundly as he backed off despite his 'unique' state it still hurt. "Damn woman I like it rough but that was harsh."

He took a leap back onto a tree as several bones struck where he was standing a moment ago. Suigetsu looked to his side and saw one of the other fights then sneered as he prepared to re-engage his foes.

Kimimaro and Kabuto jumped onto opposite branches after a brief inconclusive exchange of attacks.

"I don't like being used." the Kaguya said as he shot a bone out of his palm hitting the tree next to Kabuto whom didn't react, in fact he smirked before responding "Oh why do you sound so shocked."

"To be honest now that my eye are opened I'm not." if looks could kill Kimimaro would've slain Kabuto by now. The spectacled boy attempted genjutsu which, was broken quickly he was a little surprised that it was broken so easily yet prepared himself for close quarters combat via forming chakra scalpels around his hands. They both charged each other the albino made a swing at the other teen whom dodged then countered with by throwing a chop to the neck but he too dodged. Kimimaro took a step back prepared for the next round of attacks. Kabuto felt that he had the upper hand here regardless of how much the other had changed, back when the Kaguya was of Oto he was only as good as a high Chuunin or low Jonin with the curse seal, without it he'd convinced himself that this would be over soon. The teen rushed forth at a faster pace making several jabs at the albino, one connected to the shoulder seeing his opportunity he followed up he went to decapitate him.

Kimimaro ducked then confidently chuckled causing Kabuto's eyes to widened, how careless had he just been. Several bones shot out of the older teens hands, elbows and knees then performed the **Yanagai No Mai; Willow Dance**. Somehow Kabuto wasn't killed by this but took the majority of the blows, they both backed away from each other the spectacled teen began to regenerate back to normal.

"You seriously thought I'd be that weak without the curse." even more confidently mocked Kimimaro. This was when he realised how much stronger he had become by walking this new, better path.

Despite the fighting going on around neither Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke had yet to engage the other but they had finished taking in each others changes and sizing each other up. The raven haired youth finally broke the silence "I warned you now we have no choice."

"You just don't get it! How can you follow that snake he's going to steal your body!"

"If that's what it takes to get my revenge… so be it. I need nothing else."

"Really? Then why when you had the chance… why didn't you kill me? Why didn't you sever our bonds like you said?"

"Heh. Because I am not my brother but now nothing can stop me especially not you." Sasuke began drawing his sword and pointed it at the blond whom replied by drawing a kunai then clashed. After breaking off it was apparent that Naruto had lost that round by the few cuts on his arms, he took a step back then performed the shadow clone technique summoning four of them and then went in to attack once again. However, the clones didn't last long in the face of the Uchiha's skill with the Kusanagi all he suffered from that exchange was a cut to his left arm. As for his opponent the boy took one great leap back and began gathering chakra for one of his latest moves, prompting the other to sheave his blade in preparation. Naruto finished his sequence of seals then performed the **Wind Style: Great Breakthrough **which, briefly surprised Sasuke but he almost immediately countered with **Fire Style: Grand Fireball **although it tweaked very quickly to the blond that he was going to lose this as he remembered that fire always beats wind. The flames overtook the wind merging with it and causing the fireball to exponentially increase in size, there was no way to stop it now Naruto leapt into the air and quickly made another clone to throw him higher allowing him to dodge being given second degree burns. However, Sasuke had expected something like this and activating the sharingan he formed the Chidori then ran up a tree, as soon as he reached a certain height he spring boarded off it towards Naruto who was still mid-flight. The blonde's eyes widened when he heard the chirping of birds become increasingly louder, he quickly outstretched his palm. The Uchiha smirked feeling that this fight could soon be over, he moved the hand holding the blue lightning to the right slightly oddly enough so that it wouldn't pierce his foes heart. His eyes narrowed when he saw a concentration of chakra beginning to form around Naruto's hand. The answer to what was going on quickly emerged as he realised it was the Rasengan again the Uchiha kept his smirk, after all he'd expected some progress from is former rival. Just as the last time such powerful techniques clashed both users were blasted back from the shockwave almost resulting in a draw but Naruto's right arm that held the move had been burnt and the sleeve of his coat shredded, he was thankful that he'd practiced that move or the exchange could've been so much worse for him.

Sasuke on the other hand appeared frustrated yet nodded his head confidently he then took note of his former friends anxious persona. "No matter how much you entreat me, I will not give up my path." he redrew the Kusanagi.

"Then I'll force you!" shouted Naruto as he charged forth drawing a kunai in the process. The two of them clashed again but this time Sasuke changed tactics. He swung the Kusanagi blade at Naruto of whom tried to block it, to the blonds surprise the kunai he was holding was sliced in half and found himself stabbed through his right shoulder. Sasuke continued to run Chidori through it and continued thrusting it down until he was face to face with his foe. He turned his head looking at an agonised Naruto in the eyes.

"Y..you did that deliberately…" by rights Naruto knew that could've easily killed him if his 'friend' wanted it to.

"Heh you haven't learnt your lesson yet." was all Sasuke said as the blue lightning continued emitting causing the blonds' body to start feeling numb. But before it could go any further he pulled the sword out in time to dodge Kimimaro downward slashing him with a bone like sword. "We have to go, this fight is over."

"What, no!" Naruto's head immediately stared at the albino with anger and it was also apparent from the sudden change in his eyes to crimson red that the Kyuubi was starting to manifest "It's not over yet."

Kimimaro merely sighed with a half smile at the boys stubbornness "Oh is it?" the moment the boy looked back he made his move and with one short sharp blow to the back of the head knocked out the Jinchuriki.

Just as Suigetsu was about to charge Sai he saw Sasuke throw out his arm and punch it in his direction. He immediately stopped with obvious annoyance which, allowed the others to escape. Kabuto raised an eyebrow at this but simply shrugged his shoulders at this small act of what could called mercy considering Orochimaru himself appeared a mere minute after with a squad of his own. "It seems you've been entertaining yourselves."

"At last, I want to go back and make up for the training time we wasted." was all the Uchiha said upon the much unpleasant arrival as he sheaved his blade.

"I thought I told you to show respect!" the spectacled youth nearly shouted, restraining the urge to strike the boy for his insolence to their master.

"Let us go, these pests have been an annoyance." the snake sannin sounded like he was agreeing with Sasuke though unintentional it was true that the Fuma had been a large waste of time in his opinion…

An hour later

After getting some distance from the battlefield along with a certain raven haired boy and his near unbearable accomplice Kabuto had the chance to speak to his lord. "Kimimaro is still alive. Master."

Hearing this the Sanin slowed his pace a little obviously intrigued by this revelation. "Interesting and?"

"He has turned against us." replied the spectacled boy with an irritated sigh.

"No matter, you know what must be done."

"As you wish, my lord." the boy stopped and bowed in acknowledgment of this order then continued towards their intended location.

Kumogakure Raikage's office

Some discussion and a semi-rap battle later Kirabi had finished explaining the four new unique guests to his bro, minus the Kyuubi holder part though it was pretty obvious to the kage that one of them in that group was a Jinchuriki. "So there it is bro, can they stay or go?"

"Their mostly rouge ya know for a reason." the Raikage leaned back on his chair crossing his arms with a frown upon his face.

"It's a piece of cake ya know its fake." answered Kirabi as he made one of trademark poses.

"The reasons too farfetched anyway but they can stay. But they have to stay away from the village and have to earn their keep know what I'm saying?" he stood up giving a nod of approval _'Two Jinchuriki are better than one, we treat this one well and it'll back us up in the future.'_

"Yeah! Your so cool no wonder the girls drool!" he pointed at his bro with joy then gave a double thumbs up.

"Go sort it out, you've almost made me late now I have to take…" the kage pulled his fist back then smashed it into the wall behind it creating a massive impact hole "…A Shortcut!" after which, he leapt through it to leave.

"Not again." sighed Darui when he opened the door to make sure it was what he though it was, sometimes he wondered why they even bothered repairing the collateral damage caused by their Kage.

Team Kitsune

They had been swift in getting as far away from that battlefield as possible, after making sure they were not being followed they headed to point Kirabi had told them to stay at. It wasn't long after stopping that Naruto started coming to, Kimimaro folded his arms as he looked down upon the blond. "It had to be done."

"I know… I lost my focus. Damn it… how could I be so stupid." the blond was frustrated and for once realised how rash he can be.

Hinata suddenly piped up "You're not stupid!" this drew the attention of all three of the males making her blush "Y y you follow your heart t that's not stupid!"

"Thanks Hinata, you're a good person." Naruto's face suddenly appeared confused "Are you alright?" the girls face had gone bright red from being complimented and being the dense person he was he jumped to the conclusion she was a little ill. He touched her forehead "You feel a bit hot." that was it… Hinata passed out into his arms.

Kimimaro smirked as he stood tall and turned around '_Whatever it takes those two are meant to be, even if ones incredibly dense and the other is too shy. A bit like how we started out though I doubt getting them to fight with each other will work this time… Kin… watch over me I will avenge you one way or another no matter what I must endure. Our future looks bright we need only grasp the destiny that lies before us.'_

Two days later, Unknown base in Oto

In a room where the commanders had met to discuss the recent extermination mere hours ago; Sasuke was seated at the head of the stone table where his supposed master had sat not that long ago. Suigetsu leaned on this chair as he started to talk "You were a bit different when ya took on that blond kid."

"And what's it to you?" the Uchiha leaned back and closed his eyes causing his accomplice to lean over mostly to try to annoy him and continue with saying his bit "You showed more mercy than usual, I saw it you could've killed him."

"He is more valuable alive it fits with my plan." with that said he opened his eyes glaring at Suigetsu whom quickly backed away a little and shrugged his shoulders. He then decided perhaps stupidly to mock the guy "A half-baked one at that."

"True its incomplete but we have time on our side." Sasuke kept his focus on his partner to show that he was serious about this plan.

"You mean your side, I ain't exactly free." the white haired boy sneered at being basically entrapped for god knows how much longer.

"I don't go back on promises easily that is one trait I am glad to have received." now this made Suigetsu raise an eyebrow but before he could say anything the Uchiha continued. "Make no mistake you will have your freedom and I will have my vengeance, it is only a matter of time…"

**Next chapter we time skip to a period all fans know. Also it'll be the last chapter before I start migrating them back into the original Rising Fox fic… finally. For now see ya later.**


	20. Chapter 20

The Akatsuki begin making their move as does Team Kitsune and Sasuke. A war like no other could befall the whole ninja world if Akatsuki succeed in their mission. Sasuke begins his avenger's path and Naruto hopes that he is now strong enough to remove Orochimaru's grip over his friend. So...How much can change after one year? Well lets find out…..

**Disclaimer: For the Twentieth time I don't own Naruto…. yeash get off my back…**

Appearance update

I think its fair to say that there would be changes to appearance with the amount of time that's past.

Naruto ~ his encounters with Sasuke and stay in Kumogakure have influenced his new appearance somewhat. He now wears a white short sleeved coat with a black flame design running around the bottom, it also has the whirlpool symbol of the Uzumaki clan on the back. Underneath the coat he wears a dark blue Kumo Jounin jacket and a fishnet shinobi vest. On the bottom half he wears black combat pants complete with kunai holster and black shinobi boots.

Kimimaro ~ due to his illness being removed the two red dots he used to have above his eyes have vanished and he is still the tallest in the group. The robe he wears is plain white with a crimson outline on the sleeves, it is tucked into light grey combat pants and finishes off with black shinobi boots.

Sai ~ he still has his dark blue coat with the one short sleeve and one long sleeve and the usual short sword on his back. Underneath the coat he wears a grey short sleeve shirt with a black Kumo Chuunin jacket on top. He also wears black combat pants with kunai holster and black shinobi boots.

Hinata ~ her hair has grown past her shoulders. Clothing wise she wears a kunoichi fishnet vest over a white vest. On top of this she wears a very light purple coat with the symbol of the Uzumaki clan on her left shoulder. She wears three quarter length darkish blue combat pants with kunai holster and she wears black kunoichi boots.

Everyone else wears Shippuden clothing(except Suigetsu who's currently in his prisoner clothing)

**Chapter 20 : One Year later: New Beginnings**

In a dimly lit library deep underground Sasuke leaned back a little on a chair as he read the latest Oto bingo book which, by the looks of it was still incomplete despite Kabuto's best efforts. He had a habit of carrying a bingo book around with him ever since four new entries that was of great interest to him had been added. The teen scanned over the four to see if anything new had been added. _'K' _nope nothing new about him still an apparent traitor and close range type that was about it even though he knew his 'superiors' were obviously aware of this man's full capabilities

To be honest whoever this 'K' was Sasuke was far more interested in the other three, though admittedly this 'Sai' boy was only a smidge more interesting than 'K' being a long to mid range type that could attack with ink but according to these stats he was the weakest in this group of four. Now he looked at Hyuga Hinata's entry, obviously dangerous in close quarters, though he was surprised to see a new entry detailing that she could defend against a direct hit from ninjutsu, now that was something he'd like to see. And last but by no means least Naruto, there wasn't much there that he didn't know about him. The only thing missing was the name change that he'd boasted directly to him all those months ago and was in fact one of the reasons they were even in this book to begin with.

_~Flashback~_

It was that time when they were moving bases as usual Sasuke had Suigetsu with him and unfortunately for the both of them Karin. Somehow she'd been allowed to keep an eye on the two boys which, was a start in terms of trust considering it was only the girl and not Orochimaru nor Kabuto escorting him like usual. Still the Uchiha had a strong feeling there was a heck of a lot more to it either they had something planned or they had actually allowed this without any malicious intent, though the latter seemed highly unlikely.

"You know I really wish they'd stop forcing me into that bloody tube, I've got cramps for Christ sake." a very annoyed Suigetsu said as he stretched his arms.

"If you weren't so vulgar all the time and actually knew your place then it'd wouldn't happened." Karin snapped at him with an angry look then suddenly her expression changed to a more sweet one when she gazed at the other male. "Why can't you be more like Sasuke?"

The apparent compliment was pretty much ignored by said Uchiha as he looked back at them. "Stop arguing, I'd rather we got there without you two constantly bickering along the way." he wouldn't hold his breath they always argued about something whenever they were together.

"Whatever, it's the only action she'll ever see." Suigetsu smirked lewdly at Karin and was almost instantly slapped across the face followed by an attempt to kick him in-between the legs which, thankfully for him he dodged in time.

"You've drawn attention." stated Sasuke as he put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Almost after doing this kunai with tags attached to them rained down behind the group and seeing the immediate danger they jumped forward in time to avoid an explosion. Sasuke rammed his foot into the ground stopping his momentum as smoke bombs suddenly struck in front of them, he then immediately went to draw his sword but he was forced to block a incoming punch and when he saw who threw the punch he smirked. "This your idea?" he immediately threw one of his own punches which, was blocked but now he was face to face with Naruto.

"Yeah what of it?" responded the blond as he tried to push the Uchiha back, meanwhile inside the smoke Suigetsu was violently thrown out of it on the opposite side of the two and was closely followed by Hinata.

"I see you've become more cunning." stated Sasuke. "It's still not enough, I'm stronger than you and you know it. I've told you before that I have chosen my path you will cannot change it no matter what." he broke from the engagement and double backed and suddenly appeared confused for Naruto was grinning.

"I know I can't force you and believe me I've learnt my lesson. I'm here for a rematch with no interference this time, I want to see if you're the same as last time and…" Naruto entered a more proper combat stance as he raised his fists "Don't you dare hold back!"

"Who do you think your talking to I never hold back!" to prove this the Uchiha immediately activated his Sharingan but didn't draw his sword due to the fact the blond hadn't drawn a weapon either. Suddenly before they engaged Karin was knocked just behind him out of the now ailing smoke.

"I feel bad now." uttered Sai since he read that men don't hit woman but the book didn't exactly say anything about said woman trying to kill you. As he exited the smoke then realised he could hit Sasuke from behind if he wanted to and went to draw his short sword but immediately halted when he saw Naruto raise his arm and shouted "Hinata!" the Hyuuga abruptly appeared by his side and almost immediately after this Suigetsu leapt just in front of Sasuke

"I'm gonna cut that bitch in two!" shouted Suigetsu as he raised his sword but he had his shoulder touched by the Uchiha and was pulled behind him.

"This is our fight, no interference or else." Sasuke looked into his partners eyes causing him to back away to allow him some space. Now it was clear he was dead serious about this.

"I'll be fine just keep your distance." stated Naruto to his comrades as he re-entered his stance.

"Tch… you could've just challenged me head on like always." the raven haired teen said as his partners started making steps away from them.

"Hey I didn't know that, anyway lets go!" after saying this the blond attacked almost taking the boy by surprise, it was obvious that he'd gotten faster over the past few months. Sasuke parried the first punch then countered with a roundhouse punch forcing his opponent to duck, he immediately followed up with a kick which, was blocked with both arms by Naruto. The blond suddenly pushed himself forwards head butting the Uchiha in the stomach and obviously taking him by surprise judging from his expression. Sasuke jumped away and after getting enough distance forced himself forwards at greater speed giving Naruto no time to react and ended up clotheslining him to the ground and quickly followed up with a downward kick. Just in time the blond managed to block it by making a cross shape with the arms, voiding being kicked in the face in the process but he had left himself open due to the fact Sasuke made a small jump but came down hard by stomping him in the stomach with his free leg. Almost after this the Uchiha double backed to where he'd started this fight and waited for Naruto to get back to his feet.

The first round had gone to Sasuke whom was smirking he was still faster which, meant to him that he was stronger. "I think you've got your answer." he narrowed his eyes as his entire persona abruptly became more aggressive. "Now get out of my way." he grasped the hilt of the Kusenagi as he immediately felt a presence approaching as soon as he knew this presence was within ear shot he coldly stated "If you don't I will kill you."

Naruto grimaced at how easily his 'friends' personality had become so dark, had the teen just been playing with him to warm up cause now it really looked like things were getting very serious. Before he could ponder further Kimimaro whom had been hiding as a reserve had finally made his appearance right behind the group. He tilted his head to the right towards a large patch of vegetation.

Knowing full well his cover had been blown the presence made himself known and stepped out in the open between the two opposing groups. It was Kabuto "Oh well. I guess you will die." saying this put everyone but him into a combat stance with a shrug and a sigh he walked over to the side his 'allies' were. "You don't even look surprised."

"I was actually expecting your master to grace us with his presence." snidely replied Sasuke receiving a death glare from the spectacled youth.

Meanwhile, the Kitsune squad had started a discussion of their own Kimimaro knew what they needed to do now. "Withdraw, in this kind of situation reinforcements must be on their way. That snake has used them as bait that information we heard about was true but now its apparent that it was really meant just for us."

"Damn it. I should've know, I'm an idiot!" moaned Naruto as he clenched his fists "Ok lets go."

Kabuto heard this and gave a slasher like smile. "Oh? You think we'll just let you go?" chakra surrounded his hands as he looked at the others not really giving them a choice but to follow him and attack. Kimimaro raised his arms then threw the out firing bone like projectiles from his fingertips forcing the four to disperse. He then turned to his three comrades "I'll take Kabuto." and with that he dashed off to his target.

They didn't really have time to acknowledge this as Suigetsu suddenly swung down towards them with his sword and forced them apart. Naruto may as well of jumped out of his skin as Sasuke appeared as if out of nowhere slamming his fist into the blonds face sending him flying backwards. Sai immediately opened up one of his scrolls sending scores of ink lions towards Suigetsu making him curse like mad at what he called abominations. The two girls of each group engaged in close quarters combat and considering Hinata was an expert in taijutsu it only took several well placed hits to knock Karin almost completely out of this fight. Credit to the red head she did manage to get back onto her feet, only to get knocked unconscious with a blow to the chest. This freed up all three of them since Suigetsu was being pushed back by those ink lions even though their numbers were now being considerably reduced. Naruto had recovered from the blow to the face and had engaged Sasuke with the main aim of not letting him draw his sword. As soon as Sai and Hinata showed up to help him they all went to hit the Uchiha on three different sides. However, Sasuke merely scowled as he made a single movement; he raised his arms and threw them out. As soon as he did this blue lightening emitted from his body the Chidori current was so strong it knocked the three attackers back stunning them as they landed on their sides. In the meantime Suigetsu had dispatched the final Ink creation with enough time to spare to see Hinata knocked on her ass by Sasuke, he maliciously smirked as he saw an opportunity for payback for earlier. He dashed forwards raising his sword as he did in way that made it look like he was going to cleave its target into two when it hit. Sasuke turned his head towards his 'partner' which, was a mistake as Sai opened up a scroll sending out an ink like bear at him which, to the artists shock was struck down in an instant by the Uchiha's Kusenagi blade.

This brief distraction meant Hinata was practically defenceless, just as he swung down his eyes widened in astonishment. Somehow Naruto had not only gotten in front of the girl but had managed to stop his blade with his hand, though the sword had gone into the blonds shoulder and had stopped somewhere around the collar bone.

"You lucky son of!" Suigetsu tried to force the blade further downwards but it felt like it was jammed in there. That was when he saw it; the look in Naruto's eyes it was demonic, red and filled with rage.

"I will not let you hurt Hinata! I will not let you harm someone I care so much for!" the Jinchuriki snarled as crimson chakra started coming off him. Hinata had at first been extremely shocked that Naruto had done this, then after that declaration she was blushing like mad yet she had to keep her focus, her savior was injured and right now that mattered the most.

"Oi let go, give it back." shouted Suigetsu who was this time trying to pull the sword out of Naruto. He got his wish but not in the way he wanted, those crimson eyes stared at him as the boy easily lifted the sword out of his shoulder and with the clenching of his fist, Suigetsu couldn't help but scream "Shit!" with that he received a brutal punch to the face sending him flying across the battleground and through a tree.

There was so much force in that blow that even Sasuke himself had stopped for a moment to see what had just occurred. Kimimaro on the other hand smiled when he saw this, his bout with Kabuto so far hadn't really been eventful having his arm broken twice really wasn't that bad but now he realised that perhaps they should use this opportunity to escape. He made an X shape with his arms then threw them out 'Rapid Bone Pulse' numerous bones shaped like needles suddenly shot out of both his arm at an incredible speed catching Kabuto off guard. The spectacled teen couldn't dodge them all and ended up receiving several piercing blows, any slower and he'd of been a white porcupine.

Meanwhile, the influence of the fox still remained within Naruto although he was in control thankfully. Sai and Hinata now stood in front of him then slowly started to back away trying to get even a little distance from the Uchiha before them.

'Nothing personal' lightning began emitting from Sasuke sword and it was obvious he was going to charge. Just before he could he suddenly had to bat away several incoming bone shaped needles.

With one shout of "Now" from Kimimaro smoke bombs were thrown and allowed them to very narrowly escape this time. Leaving a very annoyed Kabuto in their wake and as usual an indifferent appearing Sasuke.

After giving Kabuto and co the slip they continued at the same pace towards the Kumo boarder. Hinata looked pretty distressed until finally she couldn't hold it in any more and almost in a scolding way said "Why did you do that? You could've been killed!"

"I I uhm… I like you…no I think I love you Hinata." Naruto was blushing a lot and awkwardly scratched the back of his head with his uninjured arm. This got an interesting reaction, she nearly fell over basically nothing then was swiftly caught by Kimimaro whom threw her back onto her feet and continued to run. He looked irritated as he turned to look at blond "You could've waited to tell her."

Naruto appeared confused then realised that the Kaguya must've know about his feelings towards Hinata for a quite some time. He would've voiced his opinions but they were kinda running for their lives at the moment.

Back at the present

After finishing going over the entries of what the book dubbed the Kitsune group, the Uchiha went into thought about the future that would end in his brothers death. However, firstly he had to slay a snake one thing he took comfort in was that he still had time to come up with something. _'I may have to chance it when he tries to transfer bodies. He'll be at his weakest by then hopefully…but will he wait that long.'_

Sasuke shut the book as he felt a very familiar presence he looked over as Suigetsu very loudly approached him and lent on his shoulder "Man your reading a dull book when you could be doing important crap."

"It's too soon shouldn't you be somewhere?" he simply answered as he looked his 'partner' in the eye.

"Hey! I ain't going back to one of those retard cramped tubes." the white haired boy pushed himself off Sasuke with an annoyed expression.

The Uchiha merely smirked the teen did have a point he had seen what they confined their research 'subjects' in however, he had to point it out and so replied "It's your own fault, if only you'd kept your mouth shut."

"Yeah, yeah whatever I better not be stuck here for long." added Suigetsu as he crossed his arms. The only comfort he could take from it was that he wouldn't be pushed around by those damn snake lovers for much longer, if only it'd be sooner rather than later.

At Kumogakure: Storm Cloud Ravine

As for Naruto, Kimimaro, Hinata and Sai they had been very busy over the past year, they had mainly resided in the ravine as it was the safest place to be. The group did 'earn their keep' so to speak since they kept Kirabi preoccupied and they were technically protecting a usually unmanned outpost near the boarder. From what Naruto gathered from a certain Toad Sage he owed the Raikage a heck of a lot more than he thought when it became apparent that the Kage was doing a lot more than simply allowing them to stay, he was also protecting them from outsiders. In fact even Jiraiya had struggled to find their exact location until eventually having to appeal to the Raikage himself, even then leader denied everything. Perhaps this was due to Kirabi taking a shine to the new group and maybe due to the fact that he could call on two Jinchuriki if anything serious happened.

Eventually Jiraiya had been granted permission to stay with the group for a time during this period he trained each member of the group although Naruto got the brunt of it since he was officially the sanin's apprentice. However, combined with the aid of Kirabi the aptly named Kitsune group grew exponentially mentally and physically. Starting with Naruto through the training he'd endured he had a lot more control over the demon fox although he could only reach two tails before losing it partly since the Kyuubi refused to cooperate. Although even without this his ninjutsu capability was the best in the group added together with a certain technique he'd started learning at sixteen which, coincidentally had been the age when he was able to open the second scroll he'd inherited. Next up is Kimimaro, physically the two red dots above his eyes that had plagued him had faded away. He reckoned this was because his illness had been removed not to mention the curse seal thanks to that rebirth technique. Now a young adult he has fully mastered his bloodline making him able to equal Kirabi in a fight although one involving no ninjutsu or swords. As for Hinata she has drastically changed, after coming to terms with leaving the Hyuga and Naruto's feeling towards her she is a lot more confident in herself which, becomes glaringly obvious in combat. With the training she's received she has become a force to reckon with and is even able to frighten Naruto… although for different reasons. Last but not least Sai, while mentally he is able to feel emotions on a more human scale he still struggles in certain areas and recently he had been trying out well or little known sayings which, he has a tendency of getting wrong. On a shinobi scale his 'art' has evolved into something unique as he has self taught himself to combine earth and ink into a single ability. However, he remains the only member geared towards mid to long range combat and considering the other three excel at close quarters this isn't a bad thing.

As for Jiraiya during this period after his usual flashy appearance followed by Kimimaro nearly attacking him, he'd pretty much filled in Naruto on everything that'd happened not forgetting to mention that he still had the toad contract. The man recalled the boss toad Gamabunta chasing him for quite some time when he oh so subtly told him the bad news. Soon after this he made sure all of them had some form of mastery over their elements even discovering Naruto had a secondary water element although considering that his mother was water natured it wasn't too surprising. Eventually time had chugged on and he had to return to Konoha by now though he'd trained them all as much as he could, Akatsuki would be active very soon if they weren't already. Giving a few choice words on the organisation he departed having full confidence in that the Kitsune group would go far.

Now we return to the present, Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto was currently looking through a book. If you were wondering about his name he had been thinking long and hard as to whether to use the Namikaze or Uzumaki name then it hit him he could refer to himself as both, in his own words he was a genius.

He cocked an eyebrow when he found his own name in the book "Hey Sai, where'd you get this?"

"It was lying around on that day I went scouting… why?" answered the teen whom made the best curious expression he could muster.

"Our names are in it… well accept for one they only used the letter K." said Naruto as looked over what had been written about them.

Meanwhile, Kimimaro made himself known after listening in to this revelation. He took one look at the book noting an insignia on the back "That's an Oto bingo book." he paused then smirked "They only put me down as K since putting in my full name would pretty much tell his followers that I his formerly most loyal servant was now openly rebelling against him. It would cause chaos and unwanted distractions."

"You do make a point good." Sai paused wondering if he got that saying right and got his answer in the form of two shaking heads. "Anyway where is Hinata?"

"Cooking… and no its not ramen this time." it was more likely rice balls or something involving rice at least that's what Naruto thought. All he knew was that ramen wasn't on the menu partly cause it wasn't his turn to cook and also because she gave him a very… Hyuuga like death glare when he tried swaying her towards that option, he couldn't help but grin at her reaction considering how timid she used to be.

"Your doing it again… I know that expression." stated Kimimaro when he realised his friend was spacing out a little "Do you have to do that grin nearly every time you think about her?"

"It ain't as bad as yours, I swear you could curdle milk when you do that creepy grin."

"Where as yours makes you spout terrible lines like 'stop thief you've stolen my heart.'."

"Hey, she likes it especially when I call her angel or princess." retorted the blond.

"You only call her princess when your in trouble with her." Sai ever so helpfully pointed out.

"Speaking of trouble…" Kimimaro angled his head towards the middle of the waterfall and mere seconds after this action thunder crackled around it. Then a single gargantuan bolt of lightning struck and in the middle of all this was Mr. Jinchuriki himself; Kirabi who just couldn't stop himself "Yo I'm back and I'm hear to stay. The eight and the nine it's time to rhyme!"

"All right it's a fight let do this till night oww!" Naruto seemed to of bounded towards him while rhyming back.

"We'll set this stage alight whoo!"

"Another epic rap battle of history underway…" muttered Sai which, made the Kaguya smirk and nod in agreement.

Just as the two 'professional' rappers got into some really bizarre poses they were interrupted much to the pleasure of the observers. Hinata was making it obvious that lunch was ready, making one certain blonde almost fall over as he scrambled over towards her. She let a giggle escape as she stood in his way expectantly, Naruto blushed a little before kissing her on the cheek.

There was a pause before Kirabi smelt what was cooking "Smells like rice which, is just so nice. We'll let it wait as we eat something great!" he gave an epic thumbs up as lunch was served.

**Milestone Chapter? Well we are officially in the Shippuden period of the manga. Had another go over rating guidelines since it's got to grow up slightly more now that most of the characters are 16 or above(and to know how much I can get away with :D). Oh and the Storm Cloud Ravine is where Team Taka(Hawk) fought Kirabi in the manga for those that didn't know. More of the relationship that I 'hinted' at will be revealed as we go along.**

**In the next chapter Team Kitsune find out that one of their friends is in peril and rushes to help. But will they arrive to late and is it a trap their walking into? **

**(also I'd like to direct ya'll back to the original one called Rising Fox. Re-vamping will still continue but new chapters guaranteed)**


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